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pruning magnolias

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  • 11-09-2011 5:07pm
    #1
    man the van
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭


    just a quick question, have a spring flowering magnolia in my back garden that has gotten way to big for my liking.. i want to prune it back quite heavily. i was wondering a) will it tolerate a heavy pruning and b) when is the best time to do this.
    thanks in advance


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    #2
    Wyldwood
    Registered Users Posts: 1,162 ✭✭✭Wyldwood


    We had the same problem with a magnolia last year & had it pruned after flowering but it went mad this year and sent out multiple whippy branches for every branch pruned last year and looks very top heavy now. Sorry I touched it.


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    #3
    William Powell
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭William Powell


    Best not pruned apart from taking out dead wood and crossing branches.

    If you have to keep a large one smaller than it really wants to be then reduce the lenght of say 3 of the longer branches back by half and then do a couple of branches the same way each year. Often after pruning you'll get a mass of new shoots that you dont want and they are best removed as they form by just rubbing the buds off the branch with your finger if you let them get going they can be a major pruning job in themsleves.

    Timing is a bit tricky as the buggers bleed if you cut them in leaf or just before they start into growth but can suffer from die back and frost damage if prunned in bad weather, I'd go for a January prunning of just a few branches to see how it reacts.


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