Magnolia - Care Guide

Magnolias are easy to grow and relatively pest free. Once established they need the minimum of attention.

The perceived problems of size, first flowering and frost damage – Magnolia myths.

The three things which most frighten people about magnolias is firstly their ultimate height as tall trees, secondly the length of time which they take to produce their first flowers and finally the susceptibility of the early flowers to frost.

Although the 80-100 feet tall Magnolia campbellii, sargentiana robusta and mollicomatas which produce such a spectacle in February and March in Cornish woodland gardens can appear a bit daunting it must be remembered that magnolias grow much taller in Cornwall than they will in other parts of the country where rainfall is much less. There are several species which are smallish shrubs and which are entirely suitable for smaller gardens or even tub growing (e.g. Magnolia stellata, M. lilliflora Nigra and several crosses between these two species - ‘Susan’, ‘Randy’, ‘Ricky’ and ‘Jane’). Most varieties of Magnolia soulangeana are excellent garden plants which will become large shrubs but can readily be pruned. Not all magnolia species and varieties are therefore just the preserve of large country gardens although tree magnolias should clearly not be grown too near houses.

If you grow tree magnolias from seed they may well take 10-15 years until they first flower. In one instance at Caerhays a magnolia took over 40 years to flower. However, most magnolias sold today are GRAFTED plants. This means that the long wait until first flowering can be readily avoided because of scion material used to make the graft comes from the flowering tips and branches of existing plants. Some grafted tree magnolias will even flower while still in their pots but it would be very bad luck for a grafted plant not to be flowering away within 3-5 years from planting. This criticism of magnolias is also therefore a misconception.

Clearly any plant which comes into flower in February or March runs a very real risk of having its flowers frosted. Even in the mild Cornish climate this can and will happen some years. However magnolias adapt to the climate of their surroundings and a Magnolia campbellii in Yorkshire might only come into flower in April in a cold spring. Certainly it might well still get frosted but it is not necessarily going to happen very often.

If you live in a frost pocket or in the North of England or Scotland you need to select magnolias which do not flower until mid April and mid May. There are plenty of taller growing magnolias to choose from and ‘Serene’, ‘Iolanthe’, ‘Caerhays Surprise’, ‘Atlas’ or ‘Apollo’ are all good choices. Additionally most Magnolia Soulangeana hybrids do not come out until May.

So select the variety for your area and stop worrying too much. If our current run of very mild winters continue the risk of frost damage is minimal and magnolia flower buds are very well protected by two furry outer coatings which only drop as the bud opens.

Just because the flowers can occasionally get caught by frost does not mean that magnolia trees and shrubs are not totally hardy. They most definitely are so put these three popular myths behind you and treat them as the uninformed misconceptions that they are.
 

Magnolia 'Ann'

M. grandiflora 'Little Gem'

Magnolia x wiesneri