Magnolia tree

13 years ago

Hi, my first post! DH and I just closed escrow on our first home, and I'm new to gardening, and really don't have a natural aptitude for it, but I dream of California native plants, and specifically of transforming our front yard to low-water plantings and natives.

I'd also like to plant a beautiful tree in memory of our greyhound, Timber, who passed away 9 months ago, and bury her ashes beneath the tree. Ideally, I'd like to choose a tree that will be so beautiful that even when we move away from this home years down the road, a new family will appreciate its beauty and it will never be chopped down.

I LOVE those beautiful magnolia trees that blossom in the early spring with the magenta/purple/white blossoms. Are those particularly low-water/ drought-tolerant? Will a tree like that work in my dream front yard?

If not, can you suggest an equally breath-taking, timeless tree to honor our wonderful dog?

Thank you!

Lynne

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Comments (12)

iris_gal
13 years ago
I love Magnolia soulangiana. There are many cultivars. Remember to take the eventual width into account when designing your garden.
gardenguru1950
13 years ago
Magnolia x soulangeana is not at all drought-tolerant, although very old specimens may be more durable.

More importantly, Magnolia x soulangeana is very sensitive to hard water and since you indicate you're in zone 10, I'm assuming you're in Southern California where the water is very hard. The minerals in the water will cause "tip burn" on the Magnolia, often quite extensively by mid summer. Many people accept that as a trade-off for the fantastic flowers but I'm thinking that you probably want something that is as beautiful as your dog was, all the time. With a name like "Timber", you need to honor him with a beautiful TREE.

Tell us more about your conditions. As iris_gal has already pointed out, the "eventual width" of the tree should match your space. How big a tree can you allow? Do you want a deciduous tree such as the magnolia?; or do you want something evergreen? Is magenta/pink/white your color scheme or a color that is somehow associated with Timber?; will another color work? Is wind a factor? Why not a native tree?

Joe
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Since this magnolia was planted in the spring, it should be fine, as far as timing goes. My experience, between the ones I have planted and the ones I have seen planted in several locations locally, is that they do drop a LOT of leaves after planting, and look rather sparse for a few years. They do recover - the Little Gem I planted 6 years ago (in the wrong location, too far from a hose, so it got watered about once a month, although well mulched, so I'm lucky it lived - ignorance is bliss!) is as thick as any I have seen, and thicker than most, while last year's planted BBB is still quite spindly looking, as is the 3-year-old one in front. More worrisome is the vast amount of rain - unless you want to dig it up, all you can do is hope that the soil dries out enough between drenchings to prevent any root-rot. That said, equally, don't let it dry out too much, since it IS newly planted. If it has few leaves, be vigilant against over-watering if/when you do water it. As long as the cambium layer - the green layer just under the bark - is still green, the tree is alive. If you can nurse it through this year and through the winter - keep watering it for the equivalent of an inch of rain per week as long as the ground isn't frozen, if your ground ever does freeze - then it should look almost normal next spring. I think evergreen magnolias have adventitious leaf buds (my deciduous ones had to grow new leaves after the Easter freeze), so you may get a second flush of growth this summer. Despite how tempting it may be, don't fertilize in an attempt to push things along, it may just make matters worse.
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'Jane' Magnolia is a deciduous magnolia. Magnolia grandiflora is evergreen (of which there are numerous cultivars which can differ in terms of cold hardiness, snow load tolerances, ultimate height and width, form, and flower size, etc.) Zone 6b is about the northern limit for the southern, M. grandiflora. Deciduous magnolias such as get Saucer magnolia or Star Magnolia should be hardy to Zone 5. If you are a milder Zone 6 or higher, and want to try an evergreen species, I would suggest M. grandiflora 'Edith Bogue', or M.g. 'Victoria', neither showed any damage from the 'polar vortexes' and both have good snow load tolerances. I would add the Magnolias are almost deer proof. I have herds running through here and they never eat anything off them...even when we were covered in three feet of snow! But!, they LOVE rutting them in the Fall if there is exposed trunk. (Magnolia wood is soft and bucks prefer them.) That is why I let them keep their natural habit with low branches down to the ground! Euonymus, on the other hand, they love to eat. I keep moving my japonica to find a safe space. LOL P.S., I shot this photo earlier today. Not sure of the culivar, but not the greatest for snow load issues, which here, is more important than cold as snows tend to be very heavy and WET.
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I hate to get subscribed to another thread, but isn't the use of growth regulators fairly widespread among wholesalers these days? To produce a nice, perfectly rounded bushy plant...cutting grown magnolias can otherwise be gawky. Could some of those inhibit bloom for a few years? Kenwoods and j0nd03 are correct that some cultivars just seem to be more floriferous than others though, and so maybe that's what is going on. OP still hasn't stated if tree is in full sun or not, right? Certainly, even as "not very far north" as DC, you'd want a So' Mag to be in as close to full sun as possible, to bloom well. Mag. grandiflora, overall, has been known to grow and bloom well in areas with cool summers. I even saw one in Queenstown, NZ, though not blooming at that time of year. Summers there are somewhat chillier than Seattle or London - even Trachycarpus fortuneis there seemed to be struggling to survive. (but the native Cordyline australis look great, of course!) It's not like the first Cornus florida in the UK, that took some absurd amount of time to bloom and never became a part of English horticulture. Or crape myrtles.
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pruning involves having a plan .. in how you want to shape the future of your plant ... think topiary in the ultimate .... if you have no plan.. then you dont need to prune ... except for removing broken or dead parts ... no plant just needs to be pruned ... and boy does it look like you have enough room to let it do its own thing .... check out the link below.. and see if you can figure out which were pruned.. and why .. i can see two reasons ... ken https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=magnolia+anne&iax=images&ia=images
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lynne3450
Original Author
13 years ago
Hi, thank you both for your responses!

Timber was a brindle greyhound, hence her name (a cute name, don't you think!?). Really, my criteria is that I enjoy the tree for it's beauty (something with breathtaking flowers) or, a cedar or redwood (two trees I'm fond of, but didn't think our front yard would have the space). And also, something that would work well with drought-tolerant landscape plantings in the front.

We are in SoCal (Los Angeles), on a partially-shady lot. Not too much sun-- dappled I guess. Our lot is only about 6,500 sf, and has a pretty small front yard. Mature Chinese Elms line the block, including our little strip on the other side of the sidewalk, and we have a giant Southern Magnolia in the back of the house. Both of these mature big trees provide lots of pleasant shade on our property. It does get windy.

I'm so new to gardening that I don't understand the diff btwn deciduous and evergreen/ perenial and annual! Trying to read a lot and learn, but it's a lot to take in!

Thank you for your ideas/ suggestions!
iris_gal
13 years ago
Our water here (central coast) is actually harder than the water we had south of LA. Lovely old soulangeanas scattered around town here. The supplier accidently (?) gave me a Magnolia stellata when I was doing my front yard (down south) ~ my husband insisted upon keeping and it wasn't as beautiful in my eyes. Did well.

I also love flowering peaches (deciduous). Need full sun. There are some gorgeous camellias for dappled sun if you can do with a shrub. Some are graceful & some straighter growth.

Get a copy of Sunset's garden book! Perfect for telling you what will do well in your zone. The older editions in used book stores are excellent.
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
13 years ago
As you describe your site,limited in space,partial shade, deciduous,leafless in the winter. It sounds like a good location for a Cornus, or Dogwood. In honor of your dog also sounds appropriate. Here I am very fond of the Cornus kousa, which can be grown as a small standard tree or large multi-trunk shrub. Al
gardenguru1950
13 years ago
Small "trees" for light shade in So. Cal, wind-tolerant:

Acca sellowiana PINEAPPLE GUAVA
Camellia reticulata GIANT CAMELLIA
Cryptomeria japonica (esp. ÂBlack DragonÂ,
ÂElegans CompactaÂ) JAPANESE PLUME CEDAR
Ilex x altaclarensis 'Wilsoni' WILSON'S HOLLY
Laurus nobilis BAY LAUREL
Podocarpus nagi NAGI
Rhaphiolepis ÂMajestic BeautyÂ M. B. INDIAN HAWTHORNE

Joe
gardenguru1950
13 years ago
Ya know what -- Camellia and Cryptomeria are not drought-tolerant. My bad.

Joe
anitabananita
13 years ago
I'm having a similar debate with myself. We just had the city of LA check out our parkway to let us know which kinds of trees we can get street tree permits for. Southern Magnolia is one of the 4 recommendations (CA Live Oak, Jacaranda and Camphor are the others). I LOVE magnolia, but also like the idea of using native and/or drought tolerant plants... Afraid the beauty of the magnolia may get the best of me. Any other benefits to planting one of the other 3 that I should know about? Thanks in advance!
Dick_Sonia
13 years ago
With so many exciting drought tolerant beauties from Mexico, Brazil, Australia and other arid-tropical locations to choose from, I don't know why you would want to struggle to grow something as ordinary as a deciduous magnolia. I would look at Guaiacum coulteri, Bauhinia x blakeana, Tabebuia impetiginosa, Cassia leptophylla, Schotia brachypetala, and Bolusantus speciosus for starters. All are small to medium drought-tolerant trees that would do well in your climate and soil conditions. There are hundreds of others.
socks
13 years ago
Whatever you choose, give some thought to where you plant it. You don't want a tree that will raise your patio or whatever hard surfaces you might have. Also, if the tree drops a lot (leaves, flowers, bark), it would be better placed on a lawn than over a walkway or patio.

Be sure you have a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book. I'm sure there is helpful information there as well as here.

What a wonderful way to remember your dear Timber. Best wishes for many happy times and gardening fun in your new home.
gardenguru1950
13 years ago
dick_sonia lists some absolutely fabulous small-medium trees.

dick: how do they do in shade?

Joe
lynne3450
Original Author
13 years ago
Just wanted to chime back in and say "thank you!" We moved 2 weeks ago and have been doing nothing but painstaking interior work... hopefully by early autumn we can focus on our gardening! Thank you, everyone!

Magnolia tree

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