Magnolia trees are beloved by many gardeners for their fragrant blooms and dark leafy foliage. There are many different magnolia trees to choose from, so where do you start?Magnolia trees are prized for their elegant shape, their beautiful foliage, and their overall hardiness. But the real star of the show are their large, fragrant, and beautiful flowers that perfume the air with their redolent, lemony, sometimes musky and spicy, and all-around pleasing fragrance. With both evergreen and deciduous varieties, the variation of size, bloom formation and color and hardiness is far reaching.
These beautiful trees are famous not only for their beautiful scent, but for their magnificent blooms, commonly flowering in whites, pinks and purples. The bloom is the state flower for both Mississippi and Louisiana.
Adding a magnolia tree to your landscape takes time and planning. Ensuring your tree has proper care and maintenance will go a long way to help them achieve their full growth potential. Keep reading to learn about the many different types of magnolia trees, as well as everything you need to know about their maintenance and care.Deciduous magnolias should be planted when they are dormant, with bare branches. In warmer climates, this makes the best planting time late fall to early winter. In colder climates, they can be planted after the ground thaws in spring.
Evergreen magnolias should typically be planted in the spring before they flower. Always try to plant when no flowers are present, as changing the environment will shorten the life of the blooms.
Dig a hole that is 50% wider and just slightly less deep than the root ball. The upper most root should be slightly above the undisturbed soil, and about 25% above the ground if planting in soil that is clay heavy.
Fill in the hole with the soil dug from the hole, but do not cover the top of the root ball. A bit of mulch is fine to cover the roots that are above the soil level. Water the tree in right after planting.In warm climates, newly planted magnolias should be watered deeply, 2-3 times per week, for 3-6 months, and then weekly for the remainder of the growing season. Watering is perfectly fine until they lose their leaves for the winter, if you have an irrigation system.
In the case of evergreen magnolias, the growing season lasts through the summer. In cooler climate zones, reduce the initial watering to once or twice per week for the first several months.
A thin layer of bark much, or thicker layer of pine needle mulch, is great for holding in moisture and protecting the tree’s shallow root system.