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Topped magnolia tree

Enrico.RomagnoliEnrico.Romagnoli Posts: 2
in Problem solving

Hi All,

New to the forum and in desperate need of advice.

So, our builders asked my wife if they could cut back some branches in the garden and she said OK (though I liked it a bit overgrown.. First day, they cut back some of the horizontal/overhanging branches of a nice magnolia tree, and it was all good. Then I came back the second day and they actually topped and pretty much halved it!

See "before and after" pics. (P.s. it looks like some of the biggest branches/trunk had already been cut in the the past).imageimage

I am no expert but I know topping a tree isn't good, and I have read magnolias are a bit sensitive.


So, first of all, how bad is it? And second, if it is bad, any advice on what I can do to avoid rot/die back etc? While I might not have chosen magnolia myself, it was in the garden already and I grew to like it quite a lot so would be gutted if it died.

Thanks!


Enrico

Last edited: 14 July 2016 11:17:18

Posts

  • MrMahoniaMrMahonia Posts: 82

    i think you should be ok, trees rarely die from this. you need to keep an eye on it for pest and disease though as it will be weaker. leave it for a while time will heal it and next time if you want it cut back get a profesional

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    It may also produce lots of fast-growing vertical shoots (often known as 'water shoots') as a response to hard pruning.  If this happens, remove most of them (pull them off rather than cutting them) but leave the ones which are growing somewhere where you want an new branch to grow and nip out the tip which will promote side shoots (= more flowers in the future.)

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    I can't really see how the branches have been cut. It's best not to leave stumps, so if any branches have been cut leaving a piece behind, cut those off. A branch always dies back if bits are left beyond the last growing parts, (leaves or buds).



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Enrico.RomagnoliEnrico.Romagnoli Posts: 2

    Thanks everyone. Looking at it again yesterday, it looks most of the structural "hacking" - i.e. the big branches/parts of the trunk - had already been done (I.e. by the previous owner) and most of the upward growth might well be water shoots, as Bob the gardener says. I actually quite liked the height these went to; as most of the trunk/main branches have been topped to about 5'6"/5'8", so imageimageimageI guess there's no chance of more upward growth by the tree itself, is there any problem leaving them, when they grow again?

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