Pruning Magnolias

[Colin Miles]

When my house was built in the 70's the garden was barely 30ft long and the Magnolia planted near the end was in proportion. With the garden now being around 1/3 acre and the Magnolia having grown enormously it was blocking out our view of the garden. So, my 14 year old grandson was only too delighted to saw and chop around 2/3 of it down. Bearing in mind the time of year - Aug 18/19 - and the extent of the 'surgery', I was fully expecting it to keel over and die, or at the very least, with the exceptional rainfall since then, to show signs of rotting. But no - absolutely nothing at all. The remainder of the tree has carried on blooming as if nothing had happened. Several of the branches were 4 to 6 inch in diameter, but the cuts have remained perfectly clean.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Colin, what a wise fellow you are.
I find that you knowing that if you pruned your Magnolia in the Spring or early Summer, that it would bleed profusly, and that pruning in the winter often leads to die-back, so this is a credit to your never ending knowledge.

[pongeroon]

Yes, we pruned the magnolia last week for those very reasons, OH (ahem ahem). Nothing to do with the fact that we needed to raise the crown and let some light in, but wanted to do it with the leaves still on, so we could see how much light we were letting in...

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Pongeroon, well you equal Colin, in your knowledge of how to prune difficult shrubs and trees.

Or in your case should it be amputate difficult shrubs.

[Colin Miles]

Not a question of knowledge OH but necessity. But it shows the contrariness of nature, or simply our lack of knowledge and understanding.

[edenhorticultural]

Magnolias typically need very little pruning to look after them. However, when to prune magnolia will be when there are some crossed over branches or damaged branches. You could also prune for aesthetic reasons. The best time for pruning magnolia is once the tree has bloomed, which tends to be in late spring or in the summer.