hey there, i am concerned. one of the two small magnolia trees i have is... dying? it started from the top of the branches and the leaves and going down. what's funny, it is giving new shoots from the roots, with big dark healthy leaves. WHAT's going on???
It could be Verticillium Wilt Calin. Then again if leaves are turning brown and falling off it is probably a problem with your soil. Magnolias are greedy feeders and they need lots of iron and nitrogen. You could try supplementing your soil with organic matter like peat which could help. If you have had a wet spring you might have a fungal problem such as leaf blight or black mildew. Your best bet though is to take a leaf specimen into a garden center to see if it is fungal or even cold damage. Do let us know how you get on won't you? Good Luck.
thanks eileen. i will see what i can do about it. problem is it's not just leaves. i snapped 2 of the tops and they were dead dry. no life in them. if it's with the soil, why is it torturing me by giving new healthy shoots from the root? that is just funny to me...
I have two magnolia trees in my own garden Calin. The white one has never given me any problems and flowers profusely each year. The red one is a different matter. :-| I had problems, like you, with the topmost leaves turning brown and falling. I tried everything to help it along but, finally, chopped off the affected limbs. I was left with a little stump no bigger than 6". However, all the new growth at the bottom has flourished. The tree is around two foot high this year and I'm hoping that next year it may flower for me. I still don't know what exactly was wrong with my magnolia and probably never will. Do let me know how if you discover what is wrong with your tree. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it survives. Here's a photograph of mine as it looks today: My tree was a grafted one and the new growth was sprouting from underneath the graft. I cut away all the dead material and just left the root stock. Perhaps yours is grafted too and the graft has died. I don't know what my root ball 'mother' tree variety is but it will be exciting to see what colour of flowers it has if, and when, it produces buds.
