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Magnolia Grandiflora

mbrehonymbrehony Posts: 10
in Problem solving
Hi, I have this tree since April this year. What was a healthy tree when planted it has slowly been losing a lot of its leaves since June. What I thought was maybe Weevils as leaves appeared to have holes and eventually falling, I treated the base of the tree with Weevil killer but it seemed to continue. I was giving it alot of water and fertiliser during this time. I have attached pictures of tree from both June and today. Its also planted in North aspect so front of tree would get majority of the sun and back of tree is where majority of leaves have fallen. 

Any helpful advice of what this might be and what are my options. 







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Posts

  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited October 2022
    Don't fuss so.  "Evergreens" are not forever green.

    I would suggest a bit of a thin-out of weak growth and general shaping of your tree.  But otherwise don't over-feed.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • mbrehonymbrehony Posts: 10
    Sorry don't understand what you mean by Evergreens" are not forever green.??
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    Your first sentence is unnecessary bede. New member @mbrehony is concerned and  isn't fussing. Brusqueness doesn't become you. 
    @mbrehony someone will come along to give advice about what might be eating the leaves but for a shrub that size and age I suspect that it hasn't been watered enough bearing in mind the summer we've just add.
    Evergreens still lose their leaves as they age to be replaced by others. Some of yours might have been accelerated by stress. They should grow again if the shrub survives. 
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
    Looking at the last photo, there seems to be lots of low branches. I'm wondering if it is growth from below a graft? Can you take a clearer photo of the base of the tree?
    Sunny Dundee
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    And the chewed leaves please @mbrehony
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Evergreen means that the tree will always have some green leaves.  These leaves don't last forever, they eventually die.  With Magnolia grandiflora, after about 2-3 years they will go brown and drop off.  So no need to worry.

    A close-up of a chewed leaf would be helpful.  They look OK to me.

    But start now and think what size and shape you want your tree to be eventually.  I think it could do with a good formative prune.  Now is as good a time as any.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    We have one in our garden that is a similar size but less congested with growth, as we've pruned it out a bit. I am continuously surprised by just how many leaves I find underneath it, which I think is a combination of the leaves being tough and not decaying fast, plus more importantly, the capacity for the plant to make new leaves. Ours looks pretty much the same all year round, foliage wise, so it is constantly replenishing the old leaves.   
  • SYinUSASYinUSA Posts: 243
    Not sure about the holes, but the falling leaves are probably plant stress. If new leaves are replacing the ones that fall, it's likely fine; but either way I wouldn't feed it anymore.

    My main concern would be how close it is to your fence. Magnolias are proper trees - they get enormous! We had an old one that was about 70' tall. They are also very shallow rooted, which makes it difficult to grow anything else around it. I don't know if it will be happy being kept to a shrub size, but someone else will have to say for sure - I've only ever seen them as trees. They may behave differently across the pond than they do here, where they're native.
  • mbrehonymbrehony Posts: 10
    edited October 2022
    I have attached some other pictures base of tree and the leaves. I did think it maybe plant stress. The fact that alot of leaves have fallen at back leads to wonder will these grow back. There are some signs of little buds though. the tree is only 6 months old so too soon for them to drop? 










  • mbrehonymbrehony Posts: 10
    edited October 2022
    I have attached some other pictures base of tree and the leaves. I did think it maybe plant stress. The fact that alot of leaves have fallen at back leads to wonder will these grow back. There are some signs of little buds though. The tree is only 6 months old so too soon for them to drop? 
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