wow that is a GIANT transplant ...

no fert ... or acid ...

go out to the perimeter of the balled roots.. and dig down a foot.. and find out.. how far down .... the water you are providing.. is getting in the soil ...

your goal.. should be to wet the ENTIRE root mass ... and then let it NEAR DRY ...

and the only way to do that.. would be to insert your finger.. every few days.. thru the mulch i presume is there ... and find out what the soil is doing ...

is there a warranty??? .. if so.. discuss with seller.. as he should have a vested interest in success ...

ken

so...the first question that comes to mind is...what was the weather like the last few days where you are? Specifically...have ya had any frosts?

My interest is in hearing it was put in the same spot.

Last year I had the trunk of a large ash ground out. The soil near the hole just isnt near normal this year with all them rotting wood chips in it. Feels disgusting to dig in really.

Now if I dug a three foot deep twenty foot wide hole for a huge new tree that might aleviate the problem. Bit if I had put my crap crepe myrtle and its three foor by three foot rootball there it would be interacting with that rotting wood soil.

Magnolias are notoriously tricky to transplant because they have a brittle root system with sparse root hairs. Generally, container grown magnolias do better than b&b or freshly dug ones and big ones are trickier than small ones.

It's possible that 5 minutes of watering, even done every day, was not enough to wet the soil to a sufficient depth. Since, however, the tree was professionally installed and you seem to have followed the installer's instructions, I'd say you should definitely explore the warranty issue.

Ken: Ill try that, maybe we aren't watering long enough. There is supposed to be an 18month warranty. i have called the guy who put it in and he is coming to look at it tomorrow.

Strobiculate: no, no frosts we are in TX. Pretty mild...70s

Tornado: yes the same spot. we kinda built our house around the location of our old tree so that is why we chose the same spot. any suggestions about the soil?

mainegrower: so do you think the tree is a lost cause? there are still a lot of green leaves...sorry about no pic yet forgot when i got home last night.

here are pics, hope this works
[URL=http://s1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh495/lkopas/?action=view&current=IMG_0372-1.jpg][IMG]http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh495/lkopas/th_IMG_0372-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh495/lkopas/?action=view&current=IMG_0373.jpg][IMG]http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh495/lkopas/th_IMG_0373.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh495/lkopas/?action=view&current=IMG_0374.jpg][IMG]http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh495/lkopas/th_IMG_0374.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh495/lkopas/?action=view&current=IMG_0375-1.jpg][IMG]http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh495/lkopas/th_IMG_0375-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

trying to post pic

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:339080}}

This is a Southern Magnolia. Southern Magnolias bloom in the mid-to-late spring/early summer. In the spring they also drop leaves. Not all the leaves...but older leaves turn yellow and fall off in the late spring/early summer. Ours currently just started leaf-drop, and we have no flowers yet. Ours has been in the ground since 1987.

Also where are you located. When you type magnolia here, most on here will think you're talking about deciduous magnolias b/c those are common up north. It may be best to tell us where you live as well.

Also when you post pictures, just copy and paste the HTML code for the picture in here and it will post.

Good luck!

I am located in southeast texas. Thanks so much for all the advise. I am watering more because the ground does not seem to get saturated to the depth that Ken suggested. I am still pretty worried as it seemed to be a rapid yellowing and falling off of the leaves, when they planted the tree (container grown) it was all gorgeous dark green leaves then poof! Is there a difference between a southern magnolia and a D.D. Blanchard?

interior browning.. of an evergreen is NORMAL ...

and complicated/increased by transplant ...

no 'evergreen' .. holds its leaves forever ...

and the ones sacrificed on transplant.. are the interior ones ...

life is all in the buds ... and from the ONE PIC i looked at.. those look pretty good ...

in PBucket.. USE THE HTML CODE ... and on post preview.. if you see the pic.. we will ... [NOT!!! the image code]

do let us know what the seller says ..

and do INSURE proper watering.. i dont want to be accused of killing it with too much water.. if you dont take the time to INSURE you are doing it right ...

the goal is DEEP thorough watering.. and then near drying before the next watering.. insert finger.. REPEATEDLY ...

good luck

ken

It's appearance is consist with the trauma its been through.

I'm surprised it's not staked right now....it must have been quite a large rootball. Was it one of those large tree spades (attached to the back of a truck) that put it in?

No offense to the northern folks, but this tree looks good. The yellowing of the leaves looks normal for a Southern Magnolia in SE TX this time of year. Since it's a new transplant it looks a little behind (i'm sure most S Mags down there have new leaves). If you look at yours you can see where the buds have broken and new leaves are beginning to emerge. The rounded buds will be flowers and the thinner buds are going to be leaves. Your little buddy looks good. Continue w/ the watering, but don't over water.