SO MANY MAGNOLIAS, SO LITTLE SPACE. I sought options from Andrew Bunting, president of Magnolia Society Worldwide and Curator of the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore Faculty (with its spectacular Magnolia assortment of about 130 varieties, together with these at left, above)—and first, he shared his experience about their elementary care, and notably pruning.
elementary magnolia care
FULL SUN (or mild shade in hotter zones), and well-drained soil that’s excessive in pure matter is the essential routine (although the sweetbay magnolia, M. virginiana, may take a moist spot). Give the others these necessities, plus a light-weight layer of aged pure mulch, they usually additionally typically will thrive. Fertilizing isn’t wished, says Andrew. (At Scott they solely mulch the circles of bushes in yard areas, utilizing a mixture of leaf compost and one-year-old composted picket chips.)
Magnolias are sometimes not the best to plant beneath, nonetheless, on account of their fleshy, moisture-hogging root methods. “Some vegetation that may take dry shade will make a go of it,” he says, suggesting Epimedium, or Asarum, or Christmas fern. Amongst bulbs, attempt Scilla, or Chionodoxa, and even toadlilies (Tricyrtis), he recommends.
Magnolia grandiflora, the so-called Southern magnolia, is the hardest of all to underplant—on account of it has not merely these roots, nonetheless furthermore evergreen foliage to restrict water that reaches the realm beneath.
Although magnolias are typically robust, diversified species of scale bugs will doubtless be an occasional pest on the Scott Arboretum, which is solely exterior Philadelphia (data on the gathering, and visiting).
I’d add yellow-bellied sapsuckers as a formidable opponent, and one is on the verge of killing the second of my two massive earlier magnolias, and has offed completely completely different decorative tree species correct proper right here. Andrew confirms that the fowl does like magnolias, which is why I sadly won’t be going to be altering mine.
The fundamentals of magnolia planting and care, from the Magnolia Society
magnolia pruning
THOUGH MAGNOLIAS typically want little pruning, there are two factors to handle a selected eye out for: Since practically all magnolias are nonetheless bought as grafted vegetation, Andrew says, you’ll want to prune out any shoots that may sprout on the underside, rising from the rootstock.
Likewise, eliminate water sprouts—technically typically referred to as “epicormic shoots,” he says (picture above of 1)—that sort as vertical progress on branches, notably on the saucer varieties. At Scott Arboretum, epicormic shoots are eradicated in late winter.
In each different case: “We do selective pruning, merely to type them up or limb them up over time as desired.”
The Scott’s specimens of the Little Lady assortment of magnolias, as an example, obtained proper right here to the yard in 1968, when the eight shrubby, smallish new varieties (reaching possibly 12-20 ft, an excellent home-garden measurement) have been launched by the U.S. Nationwide Arboretum. The surviving vegetation actually haven’t been pruned since—nonetheless comparatively allowed to solely turn into their pure shapes. (One among them, ‘Betty,’ is all through the picture on the underside of the web internet web page.)
Typically, although, you want a magnolia to go nicely with a selected yard want or residence.
“I’ve seen ‘Galaxy’ common as a avenue tree, for instance,” says Andrew, “limbed up so its head begins 5 or 6 ft off the underside.”
At Scott, a gaggle of yellow-flowered magnolias is limbed up even bigger, offering the intense shade that provides the arboretum’s tree-peony assortment that sort of mild it prefers. Each ‘Galaxy’ and the yellow-flowered varieties are sometimes fast-growing—and fast-growing ones are top-of-the-line magnolias for limbing up. The M. virginiana var. australis alternative typically referred to as ‘Henry Hicks’ will likely be handled this fashion on the Swarthmore campus (above).
Presumably the acute of magnolia pruning, says Andrew: Attempt creating an espalier with a grandiflora kind (the place hardy and reliably evergreen, in any case–typically Zone 7ish, probably 6B, or milder).
quite a few alternative magnolias, from andrew bunting
BY NO MEANS an exhaustive file, what follows is as a substitute the outcomes of an impromptu chat the opposite day—some highlights, not an encyclopedia. A hyperlink to sources that promote quite a few the lesser-known varieties is on the underside of the web internet web page.
For pure perfume: Magnolia virginiana or grandiflora.
Want a neighborhood species? Many magnolias are Asian, nonetheless seven or eight are North American natives, together with acuminata (the so-called cucumbertree magnolia); tripetala; macrophylla and macrophylla subspecies ashei (beneath, flower issue; tree at backside of the web internet web page); grandiflora; virginiana; fraseri, and pyrimidata.
Coping with moist soil? Magnolia virginiana is the one alternative.
To view from beneath (as if planted on a wall, above a pathway): Magnolia sieboldii has pendant, aromatic flowers with a boss of purple inside; good to stroll beneath it when in bloom.
Yellow flowers? ‘Butterflies’ (beneath) with as rather a lot as 16 primrose yellow tepals, is a selected magnificence.
However what a variety of yellow-flowered alternative that isn’t so rangy as some yellows will doubtless be, I requested? ‘Judy Zuk,’ a additional moderen cultivar from a flowery cross of M. stellata, M. liliiflora, and M. acuminata, is a extraordinarily slim and upright plant, making it great for tight areas.
Darkish-colored flowers? ‘Galaxy,’ ‘Randy,’ Magnolia x soulangiana ‘Lennei’, plus ‘Genie’ and ‘Black Tulip’ are some selections.
For tropical-looking foliage: M. macrophylla subspecies ashei (foot-long leaves and aromatic flowers, nonetheless on a tree to solely 12 ft–picture on the underside of the web internet web page); fraseri; tripetala (the so-called umbrella magnolia, which Scott Arboretum has grown since 1932).
For evergreen foliage: grandiflora, and virginiana, too. (Relying on location, virginiana will doubtless be partially or completely evergreen in winter; ‘Henry Hicks,’ issue above, and ‘Inexperienced Shadow’ are inclined to be extra so.)
About grandiflora varieties, notably (which Andrew furthermore admires for his or her showy seedpods):
- Hardier grandlfiora varieties for Zone 6ish gardens: ‘Edith Bogue,’ an older hardy choice, has been rising on Swarthmore campus since 1961; ‘D.D. Blanchard’ and ‘Pocono’ are useful for great chilly hardiness.
- A favourite diminutive grandiflora: ‘Kay Parris’ (smaller in type, leaf, flower, and plenty of others.).
- For many attention-grabbing indumentum (the fuzzy cinnamon coating on the leaf undersides of assorted grandiflora varieties): ‘D.D. Blanchard’ and ‘Bracken’s Brown Magnificence.’
The most recent must-have’s: New-ish Asiatic species, for gardens from Zone 7B or 8ish and milder, together with Magnolia laevifolia (shrubby and evergreen, beneath); yuyuanensis, above, and lotungensis (each evergreen).
All through the works from breeders: Look for a pink- or red-flowered Magnolia grandiflora, probably, based mostly completely on hybridization efforts beneath means inside the present day, says Andrew.
magnolia shopping for: sources, and extra
WHERE TO BUY alternative magnolias like these by mail, in case your native nursery doesn’t have them? The Magnolia Society has a list of distributors. (Above: ashei, left, and ‘Betty,’ one amongst many Little Ladies, appropriate.)
(Photos courtesy of Andrew Bunting and Scott Arboretum, along with M. laevifolia and M. yuyuanensis, courtesy Aaron Schettler. Yellow magnolia and epicormic shoot issue from A Reply to Yard.)