Hardiness:  Zones 4- 8

Growing Conditions: Full sun for best flowering, but will withstand partial shade. Will grow best in moist, organic, fertile soil.

Maintenance:  Low maintenance with little pruning needed. Magnolia Scale can be a problem if the tree is stressed or if there are not enough beneficial insects to keep populations in check. No real disease problems to report. Spring frosts may damage flower buds and can cause browning of flowers.

Transplanting: Spring dig only. Due to the structure of the roots (i.e. few lateral roots and fine root hairs) magnolias do not take well to transplanting. Regular deep watering should be performed to ensure that the roots do not dry out. Trees may take a few seasons to fully recover from transplanting.

Experience at Great Hill
Overall, we have had good success growing several different cultivars of M. stellata as well as the straight species.

Historical Winter Data:
2018:

Hardiness:  Zones 4-9.

Growing Conditions: Prefers moist, deep acidic soil and full sun to light shade.

Maintenance:  Mildew, leaf blights, canker and scale. If pruning is necessary, its best to prune directly after flowering so next years buds aren’t removed. Magnolias tend to aggressively sucker post pruning.

Transplanting: Magnolias have a fleshy root system with minimal lateral roots and root hairs. As such great care should be taken when transplanting to ensure soil is moist and amended with peat moss or leaf mold.

Experience at Great Hill

We have several soulangeana both on great hill and throughout the nursery. While susceptible to frosts, we’ve found that these trees are only completely at a loss one out of five years with maybe two of five partially frost bitten. The long lasting, fragrant, showy blooms along with habit make it an eye-catching specimen for any landscape.

Hardiness:  Zones 3-8.

Growing Conditions: Perfers moist, organically rich, well drained loams in full sun. Does not tolerate drought or pollution.

Maintenance:  No serious issues with insects or diseases. Can get magnolia scale.

Transplanting: Trees have fleshy roots without root hairs making transplanting difficult. Great care must be taken to be sure the tree is transplanted in the early spring to a location where cultural needs will be met.

Experience at Great Hill

We do not feature our cucumber magnolia on the landscape but have several in our nursery. These trees are large, impressive, and outstandingly beautiful when in bloom. Trees can take up to 12 years to bloom and grow at a fast rate. Great care must be taken to ensure proper placement in order for specimens to thrive.  

Hardiness:  Zones 5-9.

Growing Conditions: Prefers moist, even swampy, acidic soil in full sun to part shade.

Maintenance:  No serious issues with insects or diseases. Chlorosis can occur if soil conditions aren’t met.

Transplanting: Like all magnolias, roots are fleshy with few lateral roots or root hairs making transplanting difficult. Care must be taken to meet cultural requirements.

Experience at Great Hill

Our sweetbay magnolia is featured in our scented garden. Its perfect for this small area adding a lovely lemon fragrance when it blooms late spring/early summer. Our scented garden is also in a sheltered area that’s kept moist by partial shade, as such the conditions are optimal for our specimen.

Hardiness:  Zones 5-8

Growing Conditions: Prefers moist, well drained soils in full sun to part shade.

Maintenance:  No serious issues with insects or diseases.

Transplanting: Like all magnolias, roots are fleshy with few lateral roots or root hairs making transplanting difficult. As far as propagation, Magnolia denudata is often budded and grafted onto Magnolia soulangeana.

Experience at Great Hill

We have several large yulan magnolia growing in our nursery fields on great hill. It’s an attractive and hardy magnolia and is the parent tree to several magnolia crosses specifically x soulangeana and x veitchii. The benefit of crossing this magnolia is the resulting later bloom. In our zone, denudatas early flowers are often killed by late frost.