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birdie.lee
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How big are they?
Smaller shrubs and trees can be moved, as long as you are prepared for a lot of digging and tugging and back breaking work, with the possible result of the plant not making it. To root properly in a new spot, you should ideally dig a hole at least about twice as big as the root clump you are putting down and fill it with nutritious soil according to the needs of the plant you are re-planting. This so the roots can start sucking nutrients quickly and spread properly without problems. This is especially important when replanting late in the season, since you don't want a badly rooted plant before winter (if you have winter where you live).
In my limited experience with magnolia (never encountered fig, so can't help you there) it is an extremely slow growing plant which is left best to its own devices since it is slow to heal after pruning. If you absolutely feel you must prune/cut it, it is best to wait until the middle of next summer. After the sap has risen, but long before colder weather rolls in so it has time to properly heal before autumn/winter. If you do decide to cut your magnolia, the rules are much the same as for fruit trees. Cut right above a bud/pair of leaves or as close to the stem as possible when removing an entire branch, without damaging the bark (both of these techniques will help to avoid dead "coat hangers"). Only prune young branches, disturbing the shape of of the tree (for example ingrowing water shoots, which often appear the year after pruning) and try not to cut into old wood, unless it is a dead branch you are sawing off. As always, try to make clean cuts by using sharp tools. Never use a dull or rusty blade, since the chance of the bark flaking, and thus getting infected, is bigger that way.
Good luck with your plants, and lets hope you can eventually get them to recover. Since there's nothing more saddening in a garden than being forced to terminate a plant. Especially slow growing trees.
Smaller shrubs and trees can be moved, as long as you are prepared for a lot of digging and tugging and back breaking work, with the possible result of the plant not making it. To root properly in a new spot, you should ideally dig a hole at least about twice as big as the root clump you are putting down and fill it with nutritious soil according to the needs of the plant you are re-planting. This so the roots can start sucking nutrients quickly and spread properly without problems. This is especially important when replanting late in the season, since you don't want a badly rooted plant before winter (if you have winter where you live).
In my limited experience with magnolia (never encountered fig, so can't help you there) it is an extremely slow growing plant which is left best to its own devices since it is slow to heal after pruning. If you absolutely feel you must prune/cut it, it is best to wait until the middle of next summer. After the sap has risen, but long before colder weather rolls in so it has time to properly heal before autumn/winter. If you do decide to cut your magnolia, the rules are much the same as for fruit trees. Cut right above a bud/pair of leaves or as close to the stem as possible when removing an entire branch, without damaging the bark (both of these techniques will help to avoid dead "coat hangers"). Only prune young branches, disturbing the shape of of the tree (for example ingrowing water shoots, which often appear the year after pruning) and try not to cut into old wood, unless it is a dead branch you are sawing off. As always, try to make clean cuts by using sharp tools. Never use a dull or rusty blade, since the chance of the bark flaking, and thus getting infected, is bigger that way.
Good luck with your plants, and lets hope you can eventually get them to recover. Since there's nothing more saddening in a garden than being forced to terminate a plant. Especially slow growing trees.
Where I live, figs stay pretty smallish and can be cut back brutally and still do wonderfully. Very often, they die back to their roots. You can try moving it, or you can let it get just a wee bit bigger and make cuttings of the branches. Figs are super easy to propagate like this. Then you can try moving the original and still have little trees if it doesn't make it. Locate carefully. It will need a sheltered spot in climates like mine. If you are in CA, you might need a whole block to accommodate it!
If either tree was very big when it was hacked, the roots might be monstrous compared to the tops, so good luck!
If either tree was very big when it was hacked, the roots might be monstrous compared to the tops, so good luck!
Quote:
There are many different types of magnolia. Some will never become trees, since they are bushy types. Some grow faster, some grow slower but be prepared to at least give it a good 10-15 years for it to become a proper tree. Even our fast growing maple trees have just now after about 8 years really started to become trees, rather than sticks with leaves on top.Originally Posted by birdie.lee
Lovesong, thank you so much for your advice.
The fig is about two feet tall and is pruned to one trunk. Leaves came out on the 'trunk' but there are no branches. I think, following your directions, going to move it to a more aesthetically pleasing spot. We have mild winters where I live, and the home improvement stores just stocked fruit trees for fall planting, so I figure it will be a good time to do it?
What I think is the magnolia is only about a foot tall. No leaves came out on the previous wood. All the growth is new from the ground, and it is very bushy, and then there is dead wood in the middle of the 'bush'. I am not surprised to hear you say it is a slow grower, as it has had all summer and the growth never amounted to much. I wonder how long it will take for it to actually look like a tree? The magnolia is in a good spot for it to eventually provide some shade.
I've gotten plant rejects from the store before (discount plants are good!), but I've never had to take care of such sadly treated trees.
Figs are not only easy to propagate from cuttings, but it is also the only way to get the same variety! From seed they can revert to any one of hundreds of types.
In the spring when you see a few new shoots with leaves, cut some small new growth. You don't want the leaves too large. Scrape the surface of the cut end a bit and use some rooting hormone, then gently press it into some light potting medium. Keep moist, in a sunny spot with no wind - if the wind is moving it about in the pot the new roots can't get established. You can keep it in a sunny window inside. When you see it sprout new leaves you can put it in a larger pot.
We have a 8 year old fig tree I planted from a sapling. Every year we propagate and share the cuttings.
A lot of books suggest keeping it in a pot so it stays more root-bound, and produces more fruit. We are trying one of our cuttings this way to compare, but I can't see how it could do better than the tree. Last year we had over 700 figs!
Good luck.
In the spring when you see a few new shoots with leaves, cut some small new growth. You don't want the leaves too large. Scrape the surface of the cut end a bit and use some rooting hormone, then gently press it into some light potting medium. Keep moist, in a sunny spot with no wind - if the wind is moving it about in the pot the new roots can't get established. You can keep it in a sunny window inside. When you see it sprout new leaves you can put it in a larger pot.
We have a 8 year old fig tree I planted from a sapling. Every year we propagate and share the cuttings.
A lot of books suggest keeping it in a pot so it stays more root-bound, and produces more fruit. We are trying one of our cuttings this way to compare, but I can't see how it could do better than the tree. Last year we had over 700 figs!
Good luck.
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