When I took over this garden there were already two small (so I guess,
young) stellatas but in a hopelessly unsuitable position to allow them
to grow without limit.

At this time they were orb-ish in shape, about 1 metre diameter.
Against most of the advice I've scratched around for, I've been
cutting these back - either just an overall hedge-type trim or
occasionally lopping off thicker branches to encourage newer growth
which seems to develop readily - and they are still alive if not quite
as lush or symmetrical as when I arrived. Also they're taking on more
of a pear-shape, orb at the top and some new growth at the bottom,
which isn't so bad.

Is this treatment doomed to failure? Will they give up at some point
and just die or is there a pruning regimen which will improve their
chances and keep up a good show of flowers each year while keeping the
plant compact. Most advice I've stumbled on suggests the stellata
doesn't like to be pruned.

They've just finished flowering now, not too bad a display and I'm
about to start cutting back.

Thanks for any advice.

Prune immediately after flowering, taking care not to cut off the buds of next year's flowers.

You could try moving them.

bob wrote:
When I took over this garden there were already two small (so I guess,
young) stellatas but in a hopelessly unsuitable position to allow them
to grow without limit.

At this time they were orb-ish in shape, about 1 metre diameter.
Against most of the advice I've scratched around for, I've been
cutting these back - either just an overall hedge-type trim or
occasionally lopping off thicker branches to encourage newer growth
which seems to develop readily - and they are still alive if not quite
as lush or symmetrical as when I arrived. Also they're taking on more
of a pear-shape, orb at the top and some new growth at the bottom,
which isn't so bad.

Is this treatment doomed to failure? Will they give up at some point
and just die or is there a pruning regimen which will improve their
chances and keep up a good show of flowers each year while keeping the
plant compact. Most advice I've stumbled on suggests the stellata
doesn't like to be pruned.

They've just finished flowering now, not too bad a display and I'm
about to start cutting back.

Thanks for any advice.

A few houses away from me there is a Magnolia stellata about 3 metres high
and across in a very rounded-mushroom shape - like an orange with the bottom
cut off. It can only be kept this way by careful pruning, and there are a
lot of branches. Every year (and this year was no exception) it is
smothered in blooms - as far as I can tell, more densely than with unpruned
specimens.

Just think how badly it would perform if it could read the gardening
books...

--
Jeff

On Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:20:38 +0100, "Jeff Layman"
wrote:

bob wrote:
When I took over this garden there were already two small (so I guess,
young) stellatas but in a hopelessly unsuitable position to allow them
to grow without limit.

At this time they were orb-ish in shape, about 1 metre diameter.
Against most of the advice I've scratched around for, I've been
cutting these back - either just an overall hedge-type trim or
occasionally lopping off thicker branches to encourage newer growth
which seems to develop readily - and they are still alive if not quite
as lush or symmetrical as when I arrived. Also they're taking on more
of a pear-shape, orb at the top and some new growth at the bottom,
which isn't so bad.

Is this treatment doomed to failure? Will they give up at some point
and just die or is there a pruning regimen which will improve their
chances and keep up a good show of flowers each year while keeping the
plant compact. Most advice I've stumbled on suggests the stellata
doesn't like to be pruned.

They've just finished flowering now, not too bad a display and I'm
about to start cutting back.

Thanks for any advice.

A few houses away from me there is a Magnolia stellata about 3 metres high
and across in a very rounded-mushroom shape - like an orange with the bottom
cut off. It can only be kept this way by careful pruning, and there are a
lot of branches. Every year (and this year was no exception) it is
smothered in blooms - as far as I can tell, more densely than with unpruned
specimens.

Just think how badly it would perform if it could read the gardening
books...

Point taken - I'll continue to ignore standard advice and stay
optimistic.
Thanks for your upbeat appraisal Jeff....

What's wrong with taking one out and letting the other spred it's
wings?

--
Rod

My real address is rodthegardeneratmyisp

bob wrote in message
...
When I took over this garden there were already two small (so I
guess,
young) stellatas but in a hopelessly unsuitable position to allow
them
to grow without limit.

At this time they were orb-ish in shape, about 1 metre diameter.
Against most of the advice I've scratched around for, I've been
cutting these back - either just an overall hedge-type trim or
occasionally lopping off thicker branches to encourage newer growth
which seems to develop readily - and they are still alive if not
quite
as lush or symmetrical as when I arrived. Also they're taking on
more
of a pear-shape, orb at the top and some new growth at the bottom,
which isn't so bad.

Is this treatment doomed to failure? Will they give up at some
point
and just die or is there a pruning regimen which will improve their
chances and keep up a good show of flowers each year while keeping
the
plant compact. Most advice I've stumbled on suggests the stellata
doesn't like to be pruned.

They've just finished flowering now, not too bad a display and I'm
about to start cutting back.

Thanks for any advice.

On Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:09:05 +0100, "Rod"
wrote:

What's wrong with taking one out and letting the other spred it's
wings?

If it were possible I'd leave them both but amongst a lot of other
light-loving shrubs these are growing in a narrow corridor of a garden
(4 metres) formed by a 3m wall one side and the long wall of the
house on the other.

I've wondered a few times about letting them go and trying to adapt
the garden around them but I'd only do that if I thought the current
approach might kill them. There'd be an additional problem of reduced
light to the house, so I'd probably end up having to take them out
anyway.

On Apr 17, 8:12*am, bob wrote:
When I took over this garden there were already two small (so I guess,
young) stellatas but in a hopelessly unsuitable position to allow them
to grow without limit.

At this time they were orb-ish in shape, about 1 metre diameter.
Against most of the advice I've scratched around for, I've been
cutting these back - either just an overall hedge-type trim or
occasionally lopping off thicker branches to encourage newer growth
which seems to develop readily - and they are still alive if not quite
as lush or symmetrical as when I arrived. *Also they're taking on more
of a pear-shape, orb at the top and some new growth at the bottom,
which isn't so bad. *

Is this treatment doomed to failure? *Will they give up at some point
and just die or is there a pruning regimen which will improve their
chances and keep up a good show of flowers each year while keeping the
plant compact. *Most advice I've stumbled on suggests the stellata
doesn't like to be pruned.

They've just finished flowering now, not too bad a display and I'm
about to start cutting back.

Thanks for any advice.

Out of curiosity, does it flower well. By that, I mean on the new(ish)
shoots. The main problem I find with magnolias and pruning is not that
they don't like it, as such, but that the burst into what, if left
unmanaged, will become an abundance of non-flowering/useless shoots.
A bit like Lilacs (syringa)

On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:39:30 -0700 (PDT), aquachimp
wrote:

Out of curiosity, does it flower well. By that, I mean on the new(ish)
shoots. The main problem I find with magnolias and pruning is not that
they don't like it, as such, but that the burst into what, if left
unmanaged, will become an abundance of non-flowering/useless shoots.
A bit like Lilacs (syringa)


You could be right - definitely a modest rather than abundant display
this year. But still very pretty and, on what is now a small shrub,
not too bad a sacrifice. But if it were a continuing trend...