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rburditt_gw

Jane Saucer Magnolia Help

rburditt
9 years ago

Hello, I planted a Jane Magnolia in the summer of 2010. I have attached a picture of what it looks like now. I didn't do any pruning until this past summer. The tree doesn't seem to be getting any taller but mostly adding limbs (perhaps suckers). I have been giving it regular water and fertilizer.

This past summer, I pruned out probably a dozen or so limbs growing from the bottom of the trunk. I then pruned 5-6 more this fall. I'm thinking of pruning a few more. In retrospect, I should have done this long ago. My question is, how many more should I prune to encourage the tree to grow larger. Will it eventually turn into a nice tree? I had the same tree at my previous house and it grew from a small tree into a really nice sized one over the course of 7 years.

Comments (14)

  • rburditt
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Here is another pic

  • rburditt
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Here is the original tree when I planted it.

  • akamainegrower
    9 years ago

    Jane, along with Susan, Riki and a couple more is one of the Kosar deVos 'Little Girl' series hybrid magnolias. These are not really what most people envision when they think of saucer magnolias. For all of them, the natural growth habit is much more shrub-like than tree-like. You can continue pruning in an attempt to make it more tree-like, but it's probably a losing battle. Pruning, as you've already discovered, tends to encourage a more dense shrubby growth.

    If the tree you had at your previous house was 'Jane', I suspect it was mislabeled - Jane and her sisters would not normally assume a tree-like growth pattern. If you mean your previous tree was some form of saucer magnolia, you had an entirely different variety of magnolia.

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    At this point your magnolia needs more mulch and less pruning (except perhaps for a few remaining small limbs that don't appear to have enough room). You are if anything slowing the development of a larger top by thinning it out - crown reduction slows overall size increase by removing food-making foliage and food-storing stems. I don't see which several of the remaining larger limbs you would now go on to cut out without destroying the specimen.

    Plants grow as multistemmed large shrubs or small trees... Locate to accentuate floral display, silvery gray bark, multi-stemmed habit, and winter architecture

    Here is a link that might be useful: The U.S. National Arboretum presents eight hybrid magnolia cultivars affectionately known as ''The Girls.''

    This post was edited by bboy on Mon, Dec 22, 14 at 12:53

  • rburditt
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    akamaingrower, the 'Jane' at my previous house was labled that way when I bought it. I could be mislabled but other than size seem to be same tree. It grew to about 12' tall and wide. It's a beautiful tree.

    bboy, maybe I should have done more research. I've heard that if I prune out some of these 'suckers' (if they are suckers) and thin it ou some that the growth would be concentrated towards the leftover limbs. I haven't pruned it at all until this past summer. it had a nice layer of mulch last spring but does need a new addition. I was planning on doing this in the spring. Maybe I should do it sooner?

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    i know its not helpful ... but for the future ...

    if you wanted a tree shape.. you ought to have bought one in tree shape ...

    you bought one in multi trunked shrub form ...

    can you make make it a tree .. sure.. might take 5 to 10 years.. just keep at it ...

    there is no reason.. a Mag.. nor a shrub.. needs any of that staking.. IMHO ... get rid of it ...

    and when it starts assuming it natural shape... and getting bigger in the wrong dimensions.. then you know.. where to start pruning ...

    in essence.. you are trying to shape the plant thru rubber bungees.... it is done with a good pruning saw ...

    i only tried black mulch once... i fried too many plants due to it heating the soil in the heat of august ... mostly it affected shallow rooted annuals .... keep that in mind.. if you have some problems .. someday ...

    good luck

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    It doesn't look grafted at all, was probably grown from a cutting. The usual interest in sucker removal is to prevent rootstock sprouts from replacing the variety grafted on top. Or when a specimen is bought as a standard and sprouts below the top of the lollipop - whether from a rootstock or interstem, or actually from the same plant that makes up the ball head - would eliminate the lollipop shape. (Standards can be produced by either training up a single stem of a rootstock or interstock and then grafting a scion on top or by training up a single stem of the same variety that would otherwise be such a scion, letting it branch at the desired height).

    Especially if you are not a pruning and training wizard your plant is really too advanced at this point to try and develop it into a single-trunked specimen with an elevated head. If that is what you want it would be better to start over with a small (as in one gallon pot size or even smaller) example that has not forked into several more or less equivalently sized main stems, tie the biggest one to a secure stake, - that will last the required number of years - and develop that into a dominant main trunk.

    Or choose another of the many magnolia cultivars on the market that tends to produce a tree shape, is often sold with a single trunk already having formed on its own or having been developed by a grower.

    'Galaxy' is a single-stemmed, tree-form magnolia with ascending branches, the perfect shape for narrow planting sites

    Here is a link that might be useful: The National Arboretum presents Magnolia 'Galaxy', unique in form and flower among cultivated magnolias

    This post was edited by bboy on Mon, Dec 22, 14 at 13:10

  • rburditt
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    ken_adrian, thanks for your input. When I say tree, I didn't mean specifically a single trunk. My previous plant had 5-6 trunks but really grew tall and wide. I thought this one would do the same. As for the staking, from rain and leaves, the branches bent and stayed that way all summer. Around Sept, I straightened them back up and thought this would help. As the tree gets bigger/stronger, remove the ties.

    I have thought about replacing the tree but hated to start over.

    So I still have a question as to whether pruning the extra trunks and leaving it more or less where it is now would encourage the trunks to grow larger and continue to prune addl trunks that may appear.

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Again, cutting away part of the top makes the remainder grow less. If you want strong growth stop cutting on it.

    The flopping open was almost certainly due to cutting out some of the trunks.

  • rburditt
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    bboy, thanks for your response. i think I've been misunderstood. I haven't cut anything out of the top of this tree. only removed excess trunks from below.

    So I guess I'll stop removing trunks. I was on the fence on whether to leave it as is now or take out a couple of the small ones that are coming up from the middle.

  • rburditt
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    bboy, thanks for your help. I'll mulch, fertilize, and see how it does next year.

  • jbraun_gw
    9 years ago

    I have Jane which has been in the ground since 2011. It looks very similar to yours. It would have helped me to prune it the second year as it had it's original biggest sprout growing in a nice S shape. But I didn't and when I pruned it back to the base this year it left lots of open space in the middle. But I did get rid of the crossing and rubbing branches/trunks.

    I grew Jane in California and it had the same multi-trunked form. When we moved after 10 years it had gotten about 12'-15' tall and about as wide. The only thing I would do differently with yours is remove the T-bars and tape. You may want to prune and direct the future growth away from your sidewalk and garage. If you prune some of the future trunks from the bottom you may it easier for you to mow closer to the tree. Or you may need to expand the mulched area for that. This is the reason most people prefer single leader trees in turf areas. As it is your tree looks great for a multi-trunked tree. If you accept that the canopy of the tree is not as high as single trunked trees you may feel more comfortable about it's shape.

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Habits of older examples of Kosar and de Vos hybrids growing in DC can be seen at National Arboretum page linked to above.

    At the OSU Experiment Station in Aurora, OR (near Portland, USDA 8) examples of several of these have formed elevated, spreading crowns that one could actually sit under. Irregularity and curvature etc. are to be expected when you look at the growth habits of the parental species - trying to force radical departures from the natural habit onto any examples of these or other kinds of magnolias (except for something like espalier or topiary of M. grandiflora, which has been done successfully for a long time) is not likely to produce an attractive effect.

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