is there hope for my southern magnolia?

16 years ago

i planted magnolia little gem last fall and it was o.k. until we had that very cold and icy second half of winter. once that second half of winter occured all of it's leaves turned brown. before that they were all green. at this point, i still see little brown fuzzy tips on the ends of many branches. they do not seem to be doing anything. i questioned several workers at different garden centers and they said to give it time, that many plants had a hard time with the unusually warm first half of winter followed by the severe second half of winter. i don't know if i should give up on my magnolia. can it still rebound? should i have seen new leaf growth by now? most of the old leaves still seem to be holding onto the branches. should i just call it quits and buy a new magnolia, maybe a different cultivar? sorry for all the questions and thanks for any info.

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Comments (3)

lucy
16 years ago
Make a firm little scratch halfway up the trunk. If you see green underneath, it's alive, if not....
Dibbit
16 years ago
Do a scratch test on one of the smaller twigs - if here is still a green layer of cambium under the bark, then that twig is still alive. If it's brown or grey all the way to the wood, then that twig is dead. Keep checking back to the trunk, and down the tree. Anywhere you have greem cambium, you may still get new leaves, so I would keep waiting. If, unfortunately, the cambium is all dead, so is the tree.

If it's still alive, make sure the tree isn't too dry - stick a finger in the soil next to the roots, down about 2-4". If it's dry, water slowly, so the water soaks in. If it's wet, then wait, and check again later.

Replace it with another, maybe in a slightly more sheltered spot if with another M. grandiflora cultivar. If you can ask around and find one propagated from a northern source, it might help. I believe that a cultivar of M. virginiana might be hardier, - it also is less likely to have sporadic flowers in the summer, doing its flowering mostly all at once in late spring/early summer, from what I can tell. Someone with more experience might be better able to say.

I understand the deciduous magnolias are a lot hardier than the evergreen ones, so maybe one of them would do? While the leaves wouldn't be a feature in the winter, neither would there be the danger of them being damaged in a hard winter.

If you haven't mulched under the tree, doing so will help - as widely as you can, at least 3', no deeper than 4", and no mulch in the 2-4" next to the trunk.
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User
16 years ago
My Magnolia granifloras went through the winter just fine and I live in Bergen County. One of the cultivars did seem to suffer more burning (not sure of the name), the brown back went through without any damage through. Of course, these where established trees that had been in the ground for a while. Your magnolia should be pushing new growth very shortly. A lot depends on the exposure. Mine is planted on the south side of the house in the light shade of a white pine. (But you should not move it now that it is planted, let it be.) There is one thing you can try while your tree is young. In late fall (around November) spray it with an antidessicant spray for evergreens (I did this with mine for the first three winter or so). Impossible to do now as it is over the roof. I have a feeling that the problem with your tree started in the fall when you planted it. We had a very warm and dry fall and early winter and then a late but cold winter. The tree would not have burned so severely if it had been well watered throughout the fall.

is there hope for my southern magnolia?

Comments (3)

lucy

Dibbit

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