We had a large Magnolia Tree about 65 years old in the front of our house. September 2010 we had a macroburst. The tree was badly damaged. It was cut down. Now it is sprouting from the trunk. Any ideas for how to let it grow back into a tree again? It is getting flowers too but it is late on that.
Thanks,
Alice
Alice, a magnolia tree stump is sprouting in our backyard and I was wondering how long it will take to grow tall. Did your tree grow as tall as photo #3 in one season? Regarding how to increase growth on your tree, perhaps a few tree spikes will help.
DoGooder
Yes. It started to sprout in April 2011. It was about 4' tall by the end of the summer and now it is about 7' tall. I have a rope around it. Some of the sprouts are pretty thick. It also has flowers this year. I think this year I'll cut off the real skinny sprouts and leave the thick ones. I really don't know if that's the right thing to do but this tree/bush is out of control.
Alice, our two magnolias were cut last year. The one I covered with 6 inches of bark dust didn't sprout this year, so I guess it's dying. I left the stumps exposed on the other and this year that one started growing. It's about 2 ft. high so far (attached photo).
To make the magnolia grow to look like a tree, I guess the best solution would be to prune all the sprouts except one or two vertical ones. However, your tree does look nice as a "shrub." A large elm near our home was cut down and it's grown dozens of sprouts that form a 10 ft. "shrub" which adds to the scenery. The important thing is that your tree is healthy and can easily be pruned to suit your design preference.
DoGooder
Thanks. Well I'll keep working at it. We do miss it. This was a very large tree. But last year it only got kind of full but no flowers. I refused to trim it and wanted to see if it would go back into a tree. Well this year we have about 5 or 6 nice size pieces. I figure I want to put a few poles around the stump and a rope around them and hopefully I can get it to stay straight. I intend to prune back all the small pieces down to the stump again. I have to wait until it has no leaves. It is so thick right now I can't tell what I'm cutting. Thanks for the info. I like you little magnolia bush/tree and I wish you well with yours too.
Thanks for your help.
Alice
P. S. The first year after ours was cut it grew up to about 4 feet high. I'm sure yours will too. Next year if you don't cut it this year you may also get some flowers. Ours is still getting flowers now. Everyday I find a new bud. A little confused. Ha ha ha. Oh well.
