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| This little tree has been planted in my yard since 2006. It blooms it's little heart out (it bloomed like crazy this spring and has just begun to bloom again), but has sparse foilage. Any tips on how to fill out this little "Charlie Brown" tree? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| What is your soil like? When you originallly planted the tree, did you dig up the hole adequately deep and wide? It does look like it has had a difficult time getting established. Are you watering if you Have been in drought? One more question, is the a nearby tree what is in competition with it? Seems so with the shadow being cast on the ground. If it is too close to a nearby tree, it may be competing for moisture in a reduced sun position. |
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| We have mucky clay soil. My husband planted the tree and I believe he probably got close to adequate planting depths. I hand water the tree frequently (every few days), but thought maybe overwatering was part of the problem. There are other trees near the Magnolia, the closest being a Crepe Myrtle. Hoping they are spaced far enough apart not to be a problem. The earlier photo was taken in the morning @ which time the Magnolia is shaded for a bit by the Crepe Myrtle, but the Magnolia does receive sun for a significant portion of the day. Additionally, we have had a freeze the past 2 winters and had a rare hail event this Spring. We did protect the tree during the freeze...it did take a beating w/the hail but was scrawny looking prior to that. Thanks for your input!! |
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| Your planting distances look okay but it does look somewhat dry. I am two zones colder and mine have seen much colder temps over the last few years so there is still some other factor here that is giving yours a problem but I can't identify it. Sorry. |
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| hmmm, I just bought one of these last week. If it makes you feel better, mine will probably looks worse than yours after it goes through a zone 5 (maybe 6 now?) winter. Whatever the problem is, you must be doing something right as far as the flowering goes, the bloom is huge and I see all the other buds coming along. I'm only guessing here but it looks like it was a container grown plant. One possible problem is the roots are not growing out into your mucky clay soil. It's probably got a cramped root ball, no bigger than the original pot, and is almost growing like a potted plant with your regular watering and probably plenty of lawn fertilizer. Have you tried lifting that mulch mat and taking a look? Just wondering. Nice yard btw, looks well cared for |
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| A few observations about what has been said/presented so far: Inadequate planting depth is absolutely not possibly a problem here. It's possible the magnolia could have been planted too deeply, but without being there or getting more info from Kuki, we can't know that at this point. CrApe myrtles are much more drought tolerant (especially once established) than young Magnolia grandifloras, so one cannot assume that the well-being of the crApes indicates that the magnolia is getting enough water. Mucky clay soil is not ideal for most magnolia. Magnolia grandifloras prefer rich, moist, well-drained soil. I'm not saying that the soil is the problem, but it's definitely worth consideration. When watering trees, it's best to provide longer (deeper), less frequent watering as opposed to shorter (quick), frequent watering. With mucky clay soil, I'd say that's an even more important concern. Why is that poor tree still lashed to a stake? It's been there since 2006; hasn't it suffered long enough? Also, is that one of those awful plastic mulch mats I see? Little Gems are well known to be a little bare looking. That's probably the main reason they are loosing ground to some of the more newly developed small cultivars. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Jul 29, 12 at 18:55
| at brandons link.. find out that you plant HIGH in clay.. actually about HALF the rootmass.. and make a berm .. so that the roots above get air.. as compared to the roots in the clay ... what this accomplishes.. is that a plant.. can put its roots down into clay.. what they can not always cope with.. is you putting its whole rootmass down in clay ... so we give things a chance by doing half and half.. also.. if you basically put a big pot worth of a PEAT based media that holds water.. and your clay holds water in spring.. then your hole is probably.. holding too much water .. at certain times of the year ... NEVER FORGET ... the problem.. is NOT necessarily when you see the result.. the root problem could have been months ago ... next to your name.. i wish it gave the closest big city. rather than NONE .. so we would know where you are ... i cant commit everyone locale to memory ... heck.. i dont know where i am half the time ... lol and forget about comparing two of anything.. even duplicates.. why one has problems.. lost likely.. will never be solved.. short of digging it up,.. and finding out what is going on underground.. and that we can not predict with any certainty ... if it were me.. and it is in a prime location.. i cant tell from the pic.. i would move it.. in fall .. back more out of sight .. and the transplanting.. may rectify the whole situation .... and try again.. with a specimen tree for the center of the grass ... bottom line.. it can live.. i just dont know if i would want to be fixating on it.. every single day of my life ... [the spot light cracks me up .. lol .. at least move that to a prime specimen .. lol .. you cant even get away from it in the dark .. lol .. ] good luck ken
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| I did not mean to imply that the tree was not planted deeply enough, only questioning if the hole was dug wide and dig enough for the roots to expand. Planting level looks good. |
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| The hole shouldn't have been dug any deeper than the depth of the rootball, if that. Since the rootball is not above grade, we know that the hole was dug at least deep enough. |
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| I remember hearing that the hole dug for planting should be at least twice as big as the root ball of the tree/shrub to be be planted--is this erroneous? If so, I have making too much work for myself. :) |
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| The hole should be dug at least twice as wide as the rootball, but not any deeper. Bowl shaped holes, with the top of the hole three times as wide as the rootball and a depth slightly more shallow than the rootball is what I generally go for. |
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