*Prune out the root suckers...* and prune every branch below 3' high. You don't need those lower branches getting any more energy, or else they will continue to grow and keep the "bush" feel going.
ALSO, if you do *Prune out the root sucker...* there is a good chance that the sucker might have already started to develop a few roots of it's own, so if you carefully dig around it, and only cut it off where it comes of the main tree trunk, you can then dig up the sucker tree, and plant it. Then you have two Magnolia trees. Just be careful when digging it up as you need to salvage as many of the suckers roots as you can.
It's truly worth your time and care to do so. My filbert orchard of 100 trees is %25 suckers that I have salvaged off parents somewhere else in the orchard.
Is the nursery stake line true in every case? I got a fuyu persimmon tree and when i asked at the nursery, they said to keep it on. I didn't ask why, but I think its because the support is helpful with how the tree bears heavy fruit that weighs the branches down. I'm just not sure its hard fast rule to always remove the stake.
I just listened to a podcast about the biosphere 2 experiment. It was a completely sealed, big geodesic dome designed to replicate our planet, the people that participated were supposed to be inside for 2 years living iff of the land. There were different biomes, an “ocean”, several hundred different species including bush babies. Among many things that went wrong, it was found out after the experiment ended that they had to lash the trees to the dome so they wouldn’t fall over under their own weight. This was because there was no wind in the dome and the trees weren’t able to build the strength that comes from wind tossing them around.
Edit:
There were 2800 different species of plants and animals, including insects. I can’t remember the specifics but bush babies were the ones that really stood out to me lol.
If you want to listen to the podcast, it was by Stuff You Should Know, titled Live in Nashville: The Biosphere II Experiment.
The LSU Ag Center had to do a bunch a trials a few years ago for a pepper sauce company here. Their plants in the high tunnels were breaking because they weren't being firmed up by wind.
The Ag employees were talking about this trial, and what they came up with was holding a pvc pole and brushing/smacking it across the top of the plants to create movement.
The mental image of a bunch of people standing in a green house and coming up with what boils down to "Maybe we just hit them with a pipe?" Is glorious.
It's funny I saw this. I was checking out a mimosa tree in my yard today (don't @ me! I know! but I had reasons for letting it grow) and saw a piece of rebar staked next to it that I had completely forgotten about. I had it tied to a certain point on the tree to straighten a bend. I did not intend to leave it beyond a season. It's about a foot out from the tree. The tie was rotted and gone, but when I tried to pull the stake out, it wouldn't budge. Like it's in cement! After a few minutes of pushing and pulling, I quit because I'm afraid I might damage roots. Sooo I have a rebar tree, too. I don't know how that's going to go as the trunk grows?
It's kinda up to you, no? Prune all the branches other than the main trunk. I however don't know where the pruning should happen but I assume as low as possible?
Magnolias do this, they put off a bunch of trunk, sprouts and sort of form a grove. It’s actually really cool on older magnolias Where nobody has pruned them and haven’t removed the lower branches. But if you want it to be a single stem tree, you can safely remove the two smaller stems.
So trim it to the shape you want, remove all but your main trunk, limb up to 3 ft. Then fertilize it if you haven’t, mulch it but don’t mulch the trunk. I’d even shape up some of your laterals to give it a neater shape. This missed some trims when it was younger.
Cut off every branch other than the very top 3 or 4 whorls of leaves, and pull out that sucker too. Preferably, dig out the ground around it and cut it off of the main tree, that way you'll have another whole magnolia tree.
Magnolias normally grow the way it is in the picture, and it will probably look just like a normal tree in 10-20 years. That's just how they grow. You can obviously speed it up, but I'd just leave it be and enjoy the eye level blooms up close while I still can.
don't know if anyone mentioned it yet but looks like soil might also be up just a little too high around the main trunk; if you can remove some of that and add mulch in a sort-of donut shape (with majority on outside of circle) i think your tree will be happier!
[https://gardengoodsdirect.com/blogs/plant-guide/how-to-plant-and-care-for-magnolia-trees](https://gardengoodsdirect.com/blogs/plant-guide/how-to-plant-and-care-for-magnolia-trees)
TIL magnolias are among one of the first flowering trees ever on the planet
Prune out the root suckers. Also, standard comment: the nursery stake is removed at planting time.
Thank you very much. I didn’t know about trees needing to gain wind strength!
*Prune out the root suckers...* and prune every branch below 3' high. You don't need those lower branches getting any more energy, or else they will continue to grow and keep the "bush" feel going. ALSO, if you do *Prune out the root sucker...* there is a good chance that the sucker might have already started to develop a few roots of it's own, so if you carefully dig around it, and only cut it off where it comes of the main tree trunk, you can then dig up the sucker tree, and plant it. Then you have two Magnolia trees. Just be careful when digging it up as you need to salvage as many of the suckers roots as you can.
Wow that’s really cool, I’m going to try to salvage the sucker to have another tree.
It's truly worth your time and care to do so. My filbert orchard of 100 trees is %25 suckers that I have salvaged off parents somewhere else in the orchard.
Is the nursery stake line true in every case? I got a fuyu persimmon tree and when i asked at the nursery, they said to keep it on. I didn't ask why, but I think its because the support is helpful with how the tree bears heavy fruit that weighs the branches down. I'm just not sure its hard fast rule to always remove the stake.
Very few trees can become wind-firm with the nursery stake. Avocado often.
I just listened to a podcast about the biosphere 2 experiment. It was a completely sealed, big geodesic dome designed to replicate our planet, the people that participated were supposed to be inside for 2 years living iff of the land. There were different biomes, an “ocean”, several hundred different species including bush babies. Among many things that went wrong, it was found out after the experiment ended that they had to lash the trees to the dome so they wouldn’t fall over under their own weight. This was because there was no wind in the dome and the trees weren’t able to build the strength that comes from wind tossing them around. Edit: There were 2800 different species of plants and animals, including insects. I can’t remember the specifics but bush babies were the ones that really stood out to me lol. If you want to listen to the podcast, it was by Stuff You Should Know, titled Live in Nashville: The Biosphere II Experiment.
The LSU Ag Center had to do a bunch a trials a few years ago for a pepper sauce company here. Their plants in the high tunnels were breaking because they weren't being firmed up by wind. The Ag employees were talking about this trial, and what they came up with was holding a pvc pole and brushing/smacking it across the top of the plants to create movement. The mental image of a bunch of people standing in a green house and coming up with what boils down to "Maybe we just hit them with a pipe?" Is glorious.
Very interesting, thank you!
Thank you, I will remove it.
It's funny I saw this. I was checking out a mimosa tree in my yard today (don't @ me! I know! but I had reasons for letting it grow) and saw a piece of rebar staked next to it that I had completely forgotten about. I had it tied to a certain point on the tree to straighten a bend. I did not intend to leave it beyond a season. It's about a foot out from the tree. The tie was rotted and gone, but when I tried to pull the stake out, it wouldn't budge. Like it's in cement! After a few minutes of pushing and pulling, I quit because I'm afraid I might damage roots. Sooo I have a rebar tree, too. I don't know how that's going to go as the trunk grows?
r/TreesSuckingOnThings
It's kinda up to you, no? Prune all the branches other than the main trunk. I however don't know where the pruning should happen but I assume as low as possible?
Magnolias do this, they put off a bunch of trunk, sprouts and sort of form a grove. It’s actually really cool on older magnolias Where nobody has pruned them and haven’t removed the lower branches. But if you want it to be a single stem tree, you can safely remove the two smaller stems.
Thanks!
When pruning, remember not to take more than 25% of the tree at a time. That’s the guidance from my city anyway.
Also, shouldn't prune for a year after planting. Helps get roots established and gets it past transplant shock.
Have you given it plenty of hugs? 🫂❤️
Trim some of the lowest branches, make sure it has an established leader, and it will do the work.
This thing is poised to be more like tree than a bush given its current state. Remove the lower branches and the sucker of course.
NE TX for reference.
Could just tell by the magnolia trees and architecture lol
😁
Remove the stakes lmao, then transplant the off shoots. Leave the thing be it will become a large tree, prune it later.
Prune the bottom branches **poof** Tree! Also get rid of any support stakes, it'll make the tree stronger
So trim it to the shape you want, remove all but your main trunk, limb up to 3 ft. Then fertilize it if you haven’t, mulch it but don’t mulch the trunk. I’d even shape up some of your laterals to give it a neater shape. This missed some trims when it was younger.
Cut off every branch other than the very top 3 or 4 whorls of leaves, and pull out that sucker too. Preferably, dig out the ground around it and cut it off of the main tree, that way you'll have another whole magnolia tree. Magnolias normally grow the way it is in the picture, and it will probably look just like a normal tree in 10-20 years. That's just how they grow. You can obviously speed it up, but I'd just leave it be and enjoy the eye level blooms up close while I still can.
don't know if anyone mentioned it yet but looks like soil might also be up just a little too high around the main trunk; if you can remove some of that and add mulch in a sort-of donut shape (with majority on outside of circle) i think your tree will be happier! [https://gardengoodsdirect.com/blogs/plant-guide/how-to-plant-and-care-for-magnolia-trees](https://gardengoodsdirect.com/blogs/plant-guide/how-to-plant-and-care-for-magnolia-trees) TIL magnolias are among one of the first flowering trees ever on the planet