Why you should carefully select an evergreen magnolia

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. If you walk around Swan Lake Iris Gardens in Sumter, you’ll see why you should carefully select an evergreen magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, to plant in your yard. A massive grouping welcomes you as you enter the gardens, plants fifty feet tall with full limbs and brown backs to the glossy leaves. As you walk around, however, you come to a grove of seedlings which are somewhat rangy, not so full of leaves and without that beautiful brown underside. As new yards are getting smaller, there might not be room for an eighty-foot tall tree with a spread of thirty to forty feet. Don’t despair plant breeders have come up with selections that are much smaller, from thirty feet to some topping out at fifteen feet and narrow enough for a border.