Several Species of Magnolias Thrive in he Home Landscape

When we think of magnolia trees, the one that comes to mind is the large southern magnolia with its white flowers and smooth light green leaves. The trees are commonly planted throughout the southeast. However, several other lesser known species of magnolias can be planted and do well in our climate.

    Southern magnolias make excellent specimen trees and average 60 to 80 foot tall and 40 to 50 foot wide. Three are evergreens and are useful in the landscape in providing shade, beautiful flowers and noise and pollution reduction.  They need to be planted in well-drained but moist site in full sun.  You may want to plant it in a bed.  As the tree grows, it forms such a dense canopy it will be difficult to get grass to grow under it.  Also, the leaves make a mess when they fall.  To get around these problems, plant the tree in a bed or natural area and do not prune the lower limbs, which can hide the mess made by the leaves.

Southern Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) grow up to 30 feet in height.
They produce white flowers in the spring and summer. The trees can be messy in
that they continually drop leaves. (Photograph by Timothy Daly)

There are several improved varieties of Magnolia available.  ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty’ has dark green leaves with brown undersides and is compact reaching only 30 feet at maturity.  ‘Claudia Wannamaker,’ is an early bloomer. ‘Samuel Sommer’ has a rapid growth rate, large dark green leaves, and big flowers.  ‘Little Gem’ is has a small growth habit reaching a size of 20 feet.  It begins to flower at an early age and has small dark green leaves with bronze undersides.

     Sweet bay magnolias have the potential to reach a height of 40 feet or more and are evergreen. Their leaves are elliptical shaped and are light green on top and white-to green on the bottom. They have creamy white flowers that are two to three inches in diameter with a lemony scent and bloom in June. It can be used as a specimen tree or planted in clusters. Unlike other magnolias, it thrives in wet soils and is often seen growing in wetland areas in its native habitat in the southern part of the state.

   Several species of magnolias bloom early in the spring. The saucer magnolia produces tulip-shaped flowers that are up to ten inches in diameter and are purplish to white. Three grows up to 20 feet. The star magnolia is smaller with a height of 15 to 20 feet. It has white fragrant flowers that are three inches wide. Both trees are deciduous, produce blossoms before the leaves, and, since they bloom early in the spring, their flowers can be harmed by freezes.

Star magnolias (Magnolia stellata) produce white blossoms in the early spring
(photograph by Timothy Daly)

   The cucumber tree magnolia grows up to 80 feet and has a large spread. The tree has a pyramidal shape when young and is deciduous. The leaves have a dark green color with green to yellow flowers that appear in May and June. Cucumbertree magnolias should be planted in areas where their growth is not restricted such as large estates, parks, and green spaces. They should not be used on small residential properties.

    The bigleaf magnolia reaches up to 40 feet and has large leaves that are12 to 32 inches long. When they drop, the surrounding landscape appears to be covered with discarded paper. Their flowers appear in early June and are creamy-white and are up to ten inches wide. Like the cucumber tree, it should not be planted on residential sites but rather in large spaces.

    Yes, the southern magnolia has company that can add interest and beauty to the landscape. Consider planting some of these trees.