I am about to move house, and in the garden is a magnolia which
hangs over the wall and obstructs the pavement.

It looks as if it needs a severe pruning asap, but I know
nothing about magnolia's. Where do I start?


--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

On 17/06/16 22:15, Roger Tonkin wrote:
I am about to move house, and in the garden is a magnolia which
hangs over the wall and obstructs the pavement.

It looks as if it needs a severe pruning asap, but I know
nothing about magnolia's. Where do I start?

You don't say which type of magnolia, and whether or not it is
evergreen. I don't know how they respond to severe pruning, but I didn't
think they liked pruning at all until I saw a garden with a 3m high M.
stellata was kept in a mushroom shape. It flowered better than any
unpruned stellata I had ever seen.

Just google "magnolia" and "pruning". You can start he
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=599#section-2

--

Jeff

On Fri, 17 Jun 2016 22:15:35 +0100, Roger Tonkin
wrote:

It looks as if it needs a severe pruning asap, but I know
nothing about magnolia's. Where do I start?

I have a thirty year old tree in the garden, and finally it got too
big, so, as in your case, something needs to be done.
Trimming bits off the ends does not work, as it reshoots twice as
quick, and the new shoots head skyways and look stupid.
So now I tend to cut back from within the tree canopy, so the new cuts
are back to mature wood. Done over a few years, and it is now looking
good.

PS. Last year I had a good crop of seeds, so they have now been sown,
but that is a long long term project.

On 17/06/2016 22:15, Roger Tonkin wrote:
I am about to move house, and in the garden is a magnolia which
hangs over the wall and obstructs the pavement.

It looks as if it needs a severe pruning asap, but I know
nothing about magnolia's. Where do I start?



I have the evergreen grandiflora and quite regularly take a pruning saw
to it, these you can treat as a hedge, not sure about the deciduous
sorts but I can see why it would be different

--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
National collections of Clematis viticella & Lapageria rosea

In article ,
says...

I have the evergreen grandiflora and quite regularly take a pruning saw
to it, these you can treat as a hedge, not sure about the deciduous
sorts but I can see why it would be different


Do you grow grandiflora against a wall, or could I get away with it
in a sunny sheltered spot?

Janet (Arran)

On 18/06/2016 19:50, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 18 Jun 2016 18:57:10 +0100, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

I have the evergreen grandiflora and quite regularly take a pruning saw
to it, these you can treat as a hedge, not sure about the deciduous
sorts but I can see why it would be different


Do you grow grandiflora against a wall, or could I get away with it
in a sunny sheltered spot?

Janet (Arran)

There was a thread on that same topic some years ago, here
http://tinyurl.com/gper827 Scroll up to the top to get the full
thread. The general consensus seems to be that they will 'do' but not
very well. Bearing in mind they're from the Southern States in the
USA, where they get lots of hot weather in the summer, and although
they're semi-woodland trees, the strength of the light will be much
greater there than in the UK, and Arran in particular, so full sun
would probably be ok. But won't the leaves get shredded in the winter
gales? They're quite large and very vulnerable I would think.

AIUI most M. grandifloras down here in Cornwall are grown against a
wall. The NT property at Lanhydrock has a couple of ancient ones
covering the wall on the RHS in this picture.
http://tinyurl.com/zgqybrx

There was a great M.grandiflora against a 4 story house in Cathedral Rd
in Cardiff, It was felled when the place was redeveloped leaving a stump
about 18 inches across which they caped with a sheet of lead.
a year later a shoot started growing from the stump, after around 3
years it was up to around 10 ft, I don't know if it has been left to
grow, but shows they can be pruned Hard.
David @ a calm and rain free side of Swansea Bay

In article ,
says...

On Sat, 18 Jun 2016 18:57:10 +0100, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

I have the evergreen grandiflora and quite regularly take a pruning saw
to it, these you can treat as a hedge, not sure about the deciduous
sorts but I can see why it would be different


Do you grow grandiflora against a wall, or could I get away with it
in a sunny sheltered spot?

Janet (Arran)

There was a thread on that same topic some years ago, here
http://tinyurl.com/gper827 Scroll up to the top to get the full
thread. The general consensus seems to be that they will 'do' but not
very well. Bearing in mind they're from the Southern States in the
USA, where they get lots of hot weather in the summer, and although
they're semi-woodland trees, the strength of the light will be much
greater there than in the UK, and Arran in particular, so full sun
would probably be ok. But won't the leaves get shredded in the winter
gales? They're quite large and very vulnerable I would think.

It's a risk but I can't resist trying, and I have a sunny spot with
good shelter behind it from the prevailing wind (never thought I'd say
that in this garden). Even if it doesn't flower much, the foliage is
lovely (so long as it doesn't get shredded ).

AIUI most M. grandifloras down here in Cornwall are grown against a
wall. The NT property at Lanhydrock has a couple of ancient ones
covering the wall on the RHS in this picture.
http://tinyurl.com/zgqybrx

wow!

Thanks.

Janet

On 18/06/2016 18:57, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

I have the evergreen grandiflora and quite regularly take a pruning saw
to it, these you can treat as a hedge, not sure about the deciduous
sorts but I can see why it would be different


Do you grow grandiflora against a wall, or could I get away with it
in a sunny sheltered spot?

Janet (Arran)



It will grow anywhere, but out in the open flowering maybe too late to
have happened before winter spoils the show, mine is usually still
trying to flower in January. Although it was planted against a wall the
wall is only 4' high and the tree is now 20+ (despite my best efforts
with said saw!)

I hadn't really thought it through, it starts flowering in early August
here and it flowers well, but we get to see few of them because they are
high up and its quite dense and leafy, if you have a spot where you
could look down on one that would be ideal

--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
National collections of Clematis viticella & Lapageria rosea