gem magnolia tree

16 years ago

I need to know what's going on with my Gem Magnolia Tree. We've had it for 3 yrs now...right after we planted it, it bloomed all the time. In 2006 we found some red seeds all around the bottom of it. After that, it looked like it died! the branches didn't have any life in them..so we cut it down to the ground...well, it started coming out again this year. It is now about 2 ft tall. It was about 5 ft tall when it dropped those red seeds. I was feeding it with the acid loving miracle grow for awhile, til it died...or i thought it did. Can anyone tell me what happened?? and will it happen again??

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

Dibbit
16 years ago
How well were you watering it, and how much? How severe was the winter, how unexpected were the freezes, either early or late? It sounds as though either it wasn't getting enough water, or the winter was unexpectedly cold, and it died to the ground. Because it had grown a good root system, it came back. If next winter is very cold very early, so the tree isn't hardened off enough, or if the late spring frosts are very severe, it may die to the ground again. Since you have good roots, once you get good branch growth, and get a good winter, it should survive the winter and then start flowering as normal. I am not sure but I think 'Little Gem' is one of the hardier cultivars - even so, zone 6 is at the edge of hardiness for M. grandiflora and its cultivars. If the tree is in an area of winter wind, a shelter next winter might help it.

The seeds had nothing to do with the die back - that's what magnolia seeds are like, and you did say it had a lot of flowers. Don't feed it after mid-summer - you want any new growth to have time to harden off for the winter.
schmoo
16 years ago
Where are you located?? The Gem or Little Gem was a seedling selection from NC many years ago. I don't know for sure if this form is commonly propagated on its own roots or budded??? Any East Coasters know what is the most common form of propagation???
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Have you been watering - check the soil and see if it is wet/damp down a few inches - if not, water, if so, wait. Look at each tree individually, as what the one needs may not be what the other needs. Did you mulch? If not, do so, as widely as possible, no deeper than 4" and put no mulch in the 2-4" next to the trunk, using an aged hardwood mulch or pinestraw, whichever you prefer. Is the root flare - the widening of the trunk where the roots begin to grow - at or just above ground level? If the flare isn't visible on the poorly doing tree, that may be why - trees don't like being planted too deeply as a usual rule. As has been said in other posts on this Forum and in the Tree Forum, magnolias are prone to losing leaves when newly planted - they seem to take a few years to recover from transplanting, and can look a little sparse until they recover fully. As well, 'Little Gem' magolias are evergreen, but they replace old leaves in the spring, not in the fall. Mine is flowering sporadically now, and has been for several weeks, so they don't flower all at once in the spring, as a general rule. Even though, to you, the soil in 2 areas only 10' apart may seem to be identical, to the trees, it may not seem so, in terms of composition, moisture levels, degree of permeability/water holding, soil pH, wind, and possibly amount of sun. Observe the 2 trees carefully, and see if you can notice any difference. As well, one tree may have, for whatever reason or chance, had better care in the nursery or have been less stressed in terms of watering, etc.. As long as the cambium layer - the layer just under the bark - is still green if you scratch lightly at the bark, I wouldn't worry too much - just make sure the tree has water when the soil dries out. FYI, you are usually better off to ask your questions on a new thread - if for no other reason than that you will get, probably, a better response from a new question, instead of dragging up an old one that may have been exhausted in people's minds, and that the answers will, if you opt for it, go to your e-mail instead of to the original poster's e-mail.
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lori68
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks dibbit for your info! i appreciate it! schmoo--i live in Southern Indiana. Like i said, when i first planted it, it bloomed right away...and it was only 2 ft tall. Then it died to the ground, came up this year and hasnt bloomed at all =(
About our winters here, Winter of 2006 wasn't bad at all...Winter of 2005...i can't really remember.
User
16 years ago
I would give it a go again despite your loss. Sometimes our shrubs and trees die without apparent cause. Little Gem is supposed to be the hardiest cultivar. Hardier even than Edith Bogue, Brackens Brown or Victoria (three noted larger leaved varieties). Your trees death may not even be winter-related. But if your concern is your winter, I suggest the following. Plant the tree in a somewhat sheltered position--sheltered both from wind and the strongest of winter sun (all broad-leaved evergreens are prone to sunburn in very cold conditions). Make sure the tree goes into the winter well-watered. So water if your autumn is warm and dry. Water in winter during mild periods if the winter is dry. Two more things: BE SURE TO MULCH AND APPLY AN ANTIDESSICANT IN LATE FALL. I apply the antidessicant (sold in almost any garden center) in November to newly planted broadleaved evergreens (holly, laurel, rhododendron, southern magnolia, etc.). My Southern Magnolias (grandiflora) have survived blizzards, ice storms, arctic blasts, droughts, floods, heat waves, and tropical storms and still manage to look as gorgious in June as in January.--I love them! PS. to follow-up poster: I have tried to propagate Timeless Beauty from new growth in the spring without success. I've read that they are not easily propagated this way. If your tree has low hanging branches,I've read that you can fasten them to the ground so that they make contact with the soil and cut after the branch has rooted. Haven't tried this yet.

gem magnolia tree

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Dibbit

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lori68
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gem magnolia tree

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Dibbit

schmoo

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lori68Original Author

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lori68
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