How to Prune Magnolia Trees

How to Prune a Deciduous Magnolia

1. Prune After Planting

   At planting time, use loppers or hand pruning shears to cut off any weak or damaged branches, or any that interfere with the upward symmetry of the plant. Cut the branches off about 1/4 inch above a healthy bud node or side shoot.

2. Remove Dead or Damaged Wood

   Because a deciduous type is pruned in mid-summer to fall, dead limbs are generally easy to identify because they will be producing no leaves. Cut these limbs away using a pruning saw, all the way back to a fork. Broken branches should also be removed—again, back to a fork rather than just chopping them off below the break.

   Warning

   Magnolia wood is extremely heavy—much heavier than it appears. Cut small pieces you are confident you can handle before you you start making larger cuts.

3. Prune for Shape

   Pruning for shape should be done between mid-summer and early fall with deciduous varieties. Look for limbs that are overly long, interfering with the symmetry of the spreading growth habit, or any branches that rub together. Use lopping shears (for small branches) or a pruning saw (for larger branches) to trim back the targeted limbs to a natural fork in the branch. A ladder will be needed to reach higher branches; make sure to wear a hard hat.

   To remove large branches, begin your cut about 6 inches out from the fork with an undercut on the branch. Cut about halfway through the branch, then change the saw position and begin sawing from the top of the branch, offsetting the cut about 2 inches inward on the branch. As the downward cut approaches the bottom cut, the limb should neatly snap off without stripping bark from the tree

   With the bulk of the branch removed, you can cut off the small remaining stump back to the fork.

4. Remove Suckers and Watersprouts

   Whenever they appear, use hand pruners to lop off any small suckers or water sprouts that appear on the ground, trunk, or larger branches of the tree. These can be cut off flush.

How to Prune an Evergreen Magnolia

1. Prune at Planting Time

   Immediately upon planting, use pruning shears or loppers to remove lower branches. Evergreen types are often tall, upright trees, and the goal is to encourage that upward growth and a pyramidal shape. Branches that are overly long should be shortened at planting time to establish a good shape right from the start.

2. Identify and Remove Dead Wood

   Because you are typically pruning an evergreen magnolia in the early spring, it may not be readily apparent which branches are dead, although you may have noted this the previous year. An easy way to identify living from dead branches is by scraping through the bark on suspected limbs, using a sharp knife. If you find a layer of green material just under the bark, the branch is living; if you find only gray or brown, the branch is probably dead.

   These branches should be trimmed back to the main trunk or a fork in a major limb in order to maintain the overall symmetry of the tree.

3. Prune for Shape

   Prune lightly in early spring for evergreen types. Pruning at this time should aim at maintaining the tree's pyramidal shape. Cut branches back to a natural fork in the tree. With large branches, prevent bark stripping by cutting first from the underside to about the halfway point, then shifting to the top side to cut down through the branch to meet the bottom cut. For convenience, you may want to remove the bulk of the branch outward 6 inches or so from the fork. Then, after the bulk of the branch is removed, cut off the short stub flush with the fork.

4. Remove Suckers and Watersprouts

   Evergreen types are not as prone to suckering as deciduous magnolias, but when they appear, trim them off flush with the ground, trunk, or branch, using pruning shears.