From what I've seen, one of the side branches will curve upwards to try to replace the taken top. The term applied to a tree like this is a proper British-ism... monstrous! Apple is not a big tree, so I assume the Magnolia is also small? If there is only room for one tree, shoehorning 2 into that spot will never look right to me, but then again, I'm 4000km away and can't see it from my window.

impossible to give any definitive advice.. w/o a picture ...

old apple trees can be huge.. relatively speaking.. but if it is small as suspected above.. why not move it in fall ....

its a tree.. it will re-leader forever .... this will not be a once and done topping of the tree ... so perhaps we can find other options ... with a pic

ken

Magnolias, like most other flowering shade trees, do not produce a distinct leader. Many varieties have a habit that is often much more like a very large shrub, but even with a clear trunk and then structural branching, these plants exhibit a decurrent (leaderless) growth habit.

It would be helpful to have a photo to see exactly what's going on but removing the offending branch such as you described is unlikely to disfigure the tree or seriously alter its growth habit. It's a huge assumption to think the outcome would be anything close to "monstrous"

Gardengal, have you ever seen a M. grandiflora with a newly growing leader? And I should send you a pic of the M. grandiflora and ask if you can see that it definitely has a central leader. Granted, some of the side branches are nearly as long, but they are definitely growing more laterally than vertical. For you to say that many varieties are like a large bush says that either you are not used to seeing large Magnolias or that you cannot see the leader for the side branches. Either way, it is wrong to say that very many Magnolia trees are large shrubs. True for the most commonly planted ones, the Star Magnolias and the liliflora hybrids, but how about acuminata, ashei, grandiflora, macrophylla and many others.

So far as using the word monstrous, I shall be sure to run it by you before I use descriptors like that again so you won't get your knickers in a twist.

My magnolia grandiflora through the years.

Carol in Jacksonville

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Gorgeous! A lot of southern magnolias do seem to have a central leader.

They more than seem to have a central leader! Many types of magnolias develop and retain a dominant central leader.

Thats what i thought but gardengal said that they do not. I was conflicted because her responses always seem very educated.