[bluewillow]

hi, can anyone give me advise on how to care for a felix jury magnolia , its at present 3ft tall . thanks for any help .

[echinosum]

Originally Posted by bluewillow

hi, can anyone give me advise on how to care for a felix jury magnolia , its at present 3ft tall . thanks for any help .

In general magnolias require very little attention once established in the ground. This is a deciduous magnolia with large leaves and large flowers, and general advice for deciduous magnolias applies.

Plant it in a location of full sun to partial shade. As it is a very large leaf type, it will prefer a wind-protected location. Does best in well-drained but moist soil, with plenty of organic matter in the soil, and ideally slightly acidic soil. So if you can improve the ground in that direction, all the better, but at the end of the day they will grow in conditions substantially different from ideal, just not necessarily as fast or be as floriferous. Provided your ground is not very poorly drained, dig a much bigger hole than the pot it is currently in, discard any large stones, mix the soil with nice stuff like compost, some slow release fertiliser suitable for rhododendrons, some grit or perlite for drainage, and plant it in that - it will at least give it a good start in life to become established there. They don't like root disturbance, so don't muck around teasing out the roots as as you would for other container grown shrubs. Keep it watered during the growing season until established. Can be pruned to shape while dormant in the winter. Will benefit from being fertilised.

[bluewillow]

Originally Posted by echinosum

In general magnolias require very little attention once established in the ground. This is a deciduous magnolia with large leaves and large flowers, and general advice for deciduous magnolias applies.

Plant it in a location of full sun to partial shade. As it is a very large leaf type, it will prefer a wind-protected location. Does best in well-drained but moist soil, with plenty of organic matter in the soil, and ideally slightly acidic soil. So if you can improve the ground in that direction, all the better, but at the end of the day they will grow in conditions substantially different from ideal, just not necessarily as fast or be as floriferous. Provided your ground is not very poorly drained, dig a much bigger hole than the pot it is currently in, discard any large stones, mix the soil with nice stuff like compost, some slow release fertiliser suitable for rhododendrons, some grit or perlite for drainage, and plant it in that - it will at least give it a good start in life to become established there. They don't like root disturbance, so don't muck around teasing out the roots as as you would for other container grown shrubs. Keep it watered during the growing season until established. Can be pruned to shape while dormant in the winter. Will benefit from being fertilised.

hi, do i also need to check the ph of the soil before planting? as i have seen that a ph of 6 is the rule? also do i just use the slow release fertiliser for rhodendrones ? and not the normal garden slow release fertiliser?, one or both slow fertilisers.thanks again for all help.

[echinosum]

Originally Posted by bluewillow

hi, do i also need to check the ph of the soil before planting? as i have seen that a ph of 6 is the rule? also do i just use the slow release fertiliser for rhodendrones ? and not the normal garden slow release fertiliser?, one or both slow fertilisers.thanks again for all help.

As you say, ideal would be about ph6. But they are fairly forgiving. If your soil is very alkaline, it won't grow very well whatever you do, but, unlike an azalea, probably it will grow. If it is neutral to slightly alkaline, a bit of improvement of the ground around the plant will help.

pH testing is all very well if you can get a sufficiently representative bit of soil in the testing cup. For example, in my garden the subsoil is less acid than the topsoil (I say just by looking at it), and the topsoil quality varies around the garden according to the improvement done. Usually knowing what sort of soil you are on and looking around you what plants grow will tell you what you need to know. I only suggested rhodo fertiliser in the case that your ground needs a bit of improvement. If your ground is reliably on the acid side, then normal will be fine.