southern magnolia "volunteers"

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3boysmom Vicksburg, MS(Zone 8a) Jan 21, 2006

My neighbor has a gorgeous Southern Magnolia, mature and really large, the kind that go all the way to the ground. Every year I just love the flowers, and it is so majestic! Walking to her door the other day, I noticed a magnolia sapling shooting up from inside the tree. It's probably only 4 - 5 ft. high, and maybe 10 feet from the main trunk. Could you really have 2 huge magnolias that close together? I have to admit that I am eyeing this as a free gorgeous tree! Will the baby tree eventually be a problem to the huge tree? Could I carefully dig it up and put it in my yard? (Assuming I can find a place for such a mammoth- my yard's big but maybe not that big!) I have researched on the web that field grown magnolias don't transplant well.

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growin Beautiful, BC(Zone 8b) Jan 21, 2006

Your neighbour probably didn't notice it. If it were me, I'd ask and dig it up real quick before they change their mind. I would imagine early spring would be the best time to transplant as it's not too hot/dry. The more root with soil you can get, the better. Try to dig a 10 gallon pot size rootball and use burlap under it into a sack by slipping it underneath as to keep as much root & soil as you can. Good Luck! :-)

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escambiaguy Atmore, AL(Zone 8b) Jan 21, 2006

Magnolias have deep fleshy root systems and usually dont transplant very well. If you dug it up it would most likely die. Most of the magnolias at garden centers will be cultivars like "d.d.blanchard" or "edith bogue". I feel that these are overplanted and they mature smaller than normal. I am assuming that you want a wild seedling that will someday be a big grand magnolia. You can try www.mailordernatives.com or www.nearlynativenursery.com . They have some "regular" seedlings availible. Some people have had luck with rooting cuttings. That has never worked for me though. Most people simply cannot resist the urge to limb up thier magnolias. The best thing to do is to leave it alone and let it grow to its natural form.

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