How to Plant & Take Care of Magnolia Grandiflora
- 1). Choose a suitable, spacious planting site. The southern magnolia does best in rich, moist but well-draining soil, yet it is surprisingly adaptable to drier soils. The tree thrives in full sun or partial shade.
- 2). Prepare the soil by digging to loosen compacted soil, then cultivate deeply. Add compost and organic matter and cultivate again, to a depth of at least 12 inches, to mix soil and all amendments.
- 3). Dig a planting hole as deep as the root ball and at least twice as wide. Carefully remove the root mass from the container and set the plant in the hole. Make sure the top of the root ball is level with the surrounding soil. Backfill the hole with soil, thoroughly covering roots and packing the soil around them.
- 4). Water thoroughly to settle the soil, completely saturating the entire root area. Water every few days for the first few weeks to minimize transplant shock. Irrigate young trees regularly--for at least the first 3 to 5 years--until they are well established.
- 5). Mulch with coarse compost or wood mulch, to conserve soil moisture and also keep the soil cool. Use the "doughnut hole" method--with the tree's trunk at the center of the doughnut hole--to prevent mulch from touching the tree. Spread mulch 4 inches thick under the tree's canopy.
- 6). Provide filtered shade in summer for young southern magnolia plants. Make a simple shade canopy by driving four T-posts in a square pattern around the tree. Stretch a shadecloth or burlap between the poles and attach near the top.
- 7). Fertilize every January or February, starting in the second year of growth, using organic fertilizers including cottonseed meal, bone meal and well-rotted cow manure. (Do not fertilize at all during the first year.)
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