Question
Southern Mag
My wife and I live in Wilmington, DE and experienced record snowfall this winter. The majority of the accumulation came from 2 separate storms. The first was very cold and a dry snow and our beautiful 17' magnolia did well. The second snow was wet and driven along with icy rain. Before we could return home from work to tend to the tree, it had suffered multiple main trunk breaks due to excessive weight. The bottom branches are mostly healthy now and full of leaves. Those that we broken we pruned and some remain unbroken with almost no leaves. There are 1-5 leaves on some of the branches that lost most of their leaves. I would like to know if it is possible to prune the remaining tree back and give it a chance. Can you provide guidance. I am willing to submit photos showing the present condition. This tree is our favorite as is this particular variety.
Bernie
ps. We had a family of Robins living in the lower level last year. Each day there are plenty of birds that use what is left of this tree as a vantage point. I am sure they do not understand what happened. We are sad. I am a 1981 Ag grad from Univ of Delaware
AnswerYou can go ahead and prune the dead branches off. To make sure the branch is dead or alive--start near the end of a branch and scrape a small bit of bark off and if the color under the bark is green the branch is still alive. IF the color under the bark is brown not green the branch is dead at this point on the branch. If brown continue down the branch scraping at intervals until you find green or reach the main stem. IF the branch is dead prune it off to 1/4 inch of the trunk. If the branch is alive leave it and it should leaf out again. Hardwood trees have the capability to leaf out if the young leaves are removed.
After the pruning the tree may not look like a tree but over time the lower limbs will become the new top. The tree may look lopsided for a few years. Try not to cut off any of the live terminal branches. I hope this helps.
