Pruning a magnolia grandiflora

Hello. It's been a few years since I visited the forum during which time there have been a few house moves and new gardens to work on. We now find ourselves in a home with a walled garden with years of work ahead...

One of the first jobs we are looking at is tidying up some of the trees that have been left to grow over the years. One in particular, a magnolia grandiflora that is growing very close to the house, needs some special attention.

The basic question is what should we do with this tree? I have been advised to consider pollarding and then retraining so it might grow up against the wall of the house. As the house is in a conservation area we have to work with the council and apply for permission to carry out any work. The council's tree specialist deemed it a magnificent specimen! Had it been closer to the road a TPO would have been issued.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Matt

 

I have a few mags. also tree hydrangea I prune. My method is------first I go inside the tree, I look for branches that are going straight up to the heavens, those I cut off. Then I look for what limbs are rubbing against each other, that will cause harm to the outer bark on one of them. I decide which limb is best to saw off, then I do. Now I go outside and see what is left. you may not need to do much at that point.