Thank you Dan! There shouldn't be any honeydew now, right? I can accept a stressful winter for the tree, but since it bloomed and then leafed out so well in the spring, shouldn't that mean its troubles are over? Do you know if mold/fungus is a chronic problem in magnolias in this area? I didn't research it before I bought the tree because I see magnolias all over the place...I figured they couldn't all be getting sprayed so I assumed they do well here. Of course then I went and picked an unusual variety...not very bright of me. Any other thoughts would be much appreciated! Ann

Herbicide of any kind WILL likely kill that Magnolia -- they're very sensitive to that sort of thing .... You can kill the Mulberry by cutting new shoots as soon as they appear. It may take a while, but it will kill it if it can't produce leaves to feed its roots... And Magnolias generally have pretty significant root systems themselves and will, with your help, starve out that Mulberry. Another alternative would be to dig down a bit and see if digging out some of the root system of the Mulberry is a possibility... From the looks of it in the photo, it would appear not as it appears the Mulberry has grown on top of the Magnolia's root system. But it might be worth a look since them weedy Mulberries are no cinch to get rid of.

It sounds like insect scale. The scales secrete a sweet substance that attracts bees and wasps, so be careful. My magnolia has the same thing - see pics below. My tree is at least 20 years old and over 20 feet tall. I had a company come out today that specializes in the treatment of insect scale. They promised a quote next week. They recommended 4x treatments - 3 applications this year in the Fall (I think it's of a systemic insecticide) and 1 application in the Spring of dormant oil. I hope other folks who have had this similar issue can chime in on this. I'm curious to know what the success rate is. It's definitely not going to be cheap to eradicate this.

permanent drip irrigation connected to the existing sprinkler system I think is a good idea. A) I read no, it's not just the first couple years need water that many trees still need additional water for like the first 5 years being a common mistake of why trees die, b) this past summer's drought and heat waves were so bad that mature established arborvitae died all over the place, not just younger ones with smaller root systems but emerald greens 10 feet high that had been there over 10 years, green giants 16 feet high, and smaller globe types. I didn't see any other species affected except rhododendron even in shade which they prefer but at least these are showing new growth and can be dead wooded whereas the arbys are all basically brown and crispy and saw some leyland cypress some either completely brown or with spots or some limbs brown, some mature established up to 17 feet tall. Also doesn't hurt to fertilize the landscape besides the grass if it's done right. I did read (no reference) somewhere the closer you plant they shorter they grow and possibly lifespan because the root system competition, makes sense to me. ok, if "no tree just reaches a certain height and stops growing", but most will have spurts to a certain height and then be very slow growing maybe 6-12" a year which I'm ok with and not worried will become twice what I expected and be a damage-hazard if it falls. WHY is nootka cypress not a good companion plant? What is that is similar? I think this person who nay-says on the first comment on almost everything I post now here is mad that I once argued back about wanting to plant only long-lived trees, so the landscape lasts generations, they said no, people change their landscapes all the time and want their own idea. But I think if it's not broke don't fix it. If the trees have clear space to root on all 4 sides except where it joins the next plant, which isn't nearly as bad as say a driveway or patio etc where the roots won't get oxygen or water , how bad would it be to plant them say 6 feet apart? I want them to make a full screen starting at like 6 feet near the fence top. As with many species there's conflicting max height and width specs online and on tags. The tags for these bracken's say about 35 feet tall and 22 feet wide, which come to think of it IS a stout tree with the base being wider than expected, but the lower 5-6 feet of the base will likely be skirted back eventually so it doesn't take up yard space and can be walked under but still block over the 6 foot fence. So if the widest area being the base would be about 20 feet, that's about 10 feet spacing but 6 feet up the trunk once skirted width would be more like 7 feet apart, so to plant 7 feet apart doesn't seem too close, these aren't the most dense trees so I don't think any mold etc will be caused if they're packed a bit closer than suggested. Also the nootkas might prefer some of the closer shielding in hot weather and vice versa for the bracken's in winter winds (although would only be on 2 of 4 side. IDK I'll probably end up doing something like 7 foot spacing. I have several customers where emerald greens died this summer and can plant them the leftovers bracken's after hi-lift jacking the arby roots out.