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Overgrown camellia and magnolia
martinjpollardx2hllQmm
Posts: 25
I have a magnolia and camellia growing next to each other on a west-facing fence. They seem to be competing for light/space. Hopefully the photos show the issue. Both of them flower each year and show no obvious signs of disease.
The magnolia is quite mature with three main branches (the largest being 30cm in circumference at the trunk) but has grown outwards towards the lawn and the light - about 3m outwards. Its tallest point is about 3m. In the autumn I did some careful pruning, but didn't want to take off too much as I understand magnolias don't take kindly to heavy pruning.
The camellia is probably younger and has also grown out in quite a spindly way towards the light. It's also competing with a bay tree to its right.
I was thinking that I would remove the camellia, give the magnolia the more space and continue pruning it a little each autumn to try to develop a better shape. Does this sound a sensible plan?
The magnolia is quite mature with three main branches (the largest being 30cm in circumference at the trunk) but has grown outwards towards the lawn and the light - about 3m outwards. Its tallest point is about 3m. In the autumn I did some careful pruning, but didn't want to take off too much as I understand magnolias don't take kindly to heavy pruning.
The camellia is probably younger and has also grown out in quite a spindly way towards the light. It's also competing with a bay tree to its right.
I was thinking that I would remove the camellia, give the magnolia the more space and continue pruning it a little each autumn to try to develop a better shape. Does this sound a sensible plan?
0
Posts
If you do it now or early spring, you will need to prune back the shrub to allow it more chance to recover, which means losing the flowers this year. Some roots can be chopped off, it will not cause it big issues. The key is to ensure the newly moved plant is watered thoroughly when the weather warms up later in the year.