Sweetbay Magnolia Pruning?

When is the correct time to prune my sweetbay? I'd like to see it a little shorter and lusher.

You shouldn't top magnolia virginiana any more than you should top any other tree. Horrible cultural practice. Ergo, I wouldn't prune at all to shorten it. As for thicker? I'd leave that alone too as I don't think removing or pruning back branches will give you the result you desire. M. virginiana is supposed to be "multi-stemmed loose and open."

M. virginia is a beautiful plant with intoxicatinginly aromatic flowers. Were I you, I'd try to appreciate its natural form. If you need something else in this location, then move it and replace it with something more culturally suited to the site, rather than trying to force the sweetbay to be something it isn't.

Yes, I agree with Mary. If you have a wayward or dead branch, take care of that, but otherwise leave it alone. If it's kept happy it will become a little more dense with time.

Guy S.

Well I should not disagree with Guy certainly but we cut ours to the ground and it DOES come back full and lush and shorter. It had been about 15 feet tall. It is now blooming and looking good. This was about 3 years ago.

Trouble with that,levilyla,is not always one gets the same results,I remember a certian lilac,I use to love,and noise about blocking the walk drove me to do a wrong thing.Man!!I whish I had moved the walk over.Mike

well Lilacs don't grow like sweet bay

Yes, you can luck out with rejuvenation pruning if you want to make a beautiful small tree look like a suckering shrub. But unless the tree was severely damaged, why take the risk and why throw away years of growth in trade for a cloud of sucker growth? I guess it all depends upon your objectives and the color of your thumb.

Guy S.

I actually like it's form. I just wanted to mix it up but the way it is is good too. I like cutting away some of the suckers at the bottom to give the trunk a cleaner look and to propagate them.

Guy is right...I now have a "suckering" tall shrub but it was in a place that it was simply just way too tall. I think all trees and shrubs looks better when you can just let them do their thing...mine seem to always be wrong plant wrong place. Cutting a branch of Magnolia or trimming up from the bottom is certainly something you could do with good results.

This message was edited Jun 28, 2006 7:29 AM

True Confessions time: I have a M. grandiflora that I keep pruning to hold down its size. I do that to avoid having it outgrow the surrounding protection and become exposed to winter sun and wind. I wish I felt confident enough in it's hardiness to just give it the reigns and let it run!

Guy S.