Due to picture fuzziness and/or lighting, I can't really tell much about the condition of each stem. I can barely see what I think may be the de-barked area you mention, but I'm not sure. A healthy-to-start-with magnolia should experience minimal transplant shock when planted out. The fact that "several of the main stems" appear dead is a sign of something besides normal transplant issues. Do you know if your magnolia is grafted? I don't see any signs of a graft union, so hopefully it's not. If it is, the graft union may be buried below grade. This brings up another issue...how deep is your tree planted? Did you identify the root-flare before planting? Magnolias can be pretty forgiving of improper planting depth, but, combined with improper watering and/or amended/altered soil structure, improper planting depth could be detrimental. Also, burying a graft (if any) would probably not be a good idea in this case. Also, I noticed that you said you continue to water and feed it. Can you describe how you determine when it needs to be watered? Are you testing for soil moisture around AND in the rootball, or, are you confident in your ability to determine soil moisture at root level? What is your watering regime like? Next WHY are you fertilizing ("feeding") it? Just looking at your soil and other vegetation, I wouldn't guess that it needed any fertilization. Improper fertilization is a big problem with landscape trees and shrubs! Did you have a soil test done or have any valid reason for fertilizing? I wrote most of this before Gardengal posted, so sorry for any repeats. I have more questions, but we'll start with these.

Thankyou all so much! It is a lovely tree and I really want to save it. The houses are 1 story over a crawlspace - maybe approx 17' at top of roof. I think I'll call the professionals and get it trimmed correctly. It might be a good time to give the huge River Birch(in the background)a little touchup. I'm thinking that it might be best to wait until the weather turns cooler before I have anything done. Thank goodness Ihave great neighbors)!

Dan, I know what you mean about young LArchs. One was here the other day touring my garden and she couldn't identify half the plants.... The cohort of LA students in grad school (near you) was amazingly ignorant of actual plants (as opposed to shapes occupying a volume). AFAICT there was one student that could walk down the street and pop off names of plants, whereas most of their profs could name most if not all plants. In undergrad, all the LA students took classes with us in Hort. and they are very good at what they do. This lack of knowledge has ripple effects, esp when LAs work for cities or developers and specify stuff. Our Metro District here has about half of the species being poor selections in the public areas. Dan

Roses can go through what is called "transplant shock" when moved from pot to pot or pot to ground or ground to ground. They usually settle in within a week or two. The soil should be moist, not dry and not soaking wet. Remove any water that may be left standing in the saucer after you water the plant. Also, stick your finger down into the soil near the roots to make sure that the water is getting to the roots, and not just around the perimeter of the pot. Not knowing the conditions inside of your house, I can't tell you how often to water, you'll have to check the soil.