Tag Archive for: magnolias

best small tree

3 steps to choose the right tree for your garden

3 steps to choose the right tree for your garden
Flowers the size of dinner plates on a graceful small tree – this is the Jury magnolia they call Magnolia Felix™ and it is probably the best of the best.

It’s a lucky gardener who gets to plant a tree. It’s also a biggish life decision – most trees live for decades – so no-one wants to make a mess of it. Here’s 3 steps to choose the right tree for your garden…

1: How big? A Great Dane puppy will outgrow a studio apartment and a forest giant will overwhelm a compact courtyard. If you’re new to this, it’s probably a good idea to look at smaller trees: that way you can’t go far wrong. Crepe myrtles, Japanese maples, Jury magnolias, crab apples, boutique eucalypts. Go out and take down a few measurements. Look up and make sure there’s nothing in the sky above which would be in the way of your future tree: other tree branches, power lines or the eaves of a building. Do a little research online and refer to your measurements to come up with your list of potential candidates. Now for step two…

3 steps to choose the right tree for your garden
But then again, Magnolia Burgundy Star™, also bred by the Jurys, is a great option.

2: Think about the sun. Trees have the power to change how a garden feels and functions. Evergreen trees – the ones that always have foliage and are never bare-branched – will provide permanent shade. Deciduous trees – the ones that lose their foliage in autumn – will provide summer shade and winter sun. Knowing this helps you decide what type of tree would work best for you. Do you want to permanently block an ugly view or gain some year round privacy? Then plant an evergreen like a citrus tree or an elegant eucalypt. Or do you want shade in summer and as much winter sunshine as possible? Plant a deciduous tree: a dogwood or a magnolia. Now to the third step…

Anyone who loves the classic magnolia will appreciate Magnolia Honey Tulip™ which has blooms that are a warmed up creamy golden colour.

3: A special bonus. Why not enjoy having a really special tree? One that’s more than just the perfect size and gives you the amount of sunshine that you’re after? If you do a little more research you can have one with flowers, fruit, even beautiful bark. If you’re keen on evergreen trees, a lemon is a great choice for fragrant flowers and all the lemons you and your friends could ever need. Crepe myrtles have lovely soft clouds of flowers but their bark is probably their greatest asset. And for glorious flowering trees, magnolias reign supreme, and the best of the best are the Jury Magnolias. When you’ve narrowed down to just a few options, make sure you pick the one that’s the easiest to grow with no fuss.

3 steps to choose the right tree for your garden
Tulip-shaped magnolia flowers look fantastic on a small tree that’s been planted as a feature: this is another Jury bred magnolia called Magnolia Black Tulip™.

Wish for Fairy Magnolias

Magnolia wishes
Magnolia Fairy Magnolia® White

Magnolias make our hearts race. They’re luscious, scented and dewy. Those lovely blooms in the canopy of a large tree are great for parks, but what about home gardeners working with smaller spaces? We need lovely magnolias that fit into our lives. Lucky for us, the Fairy Magnolia® series of magnolias exists to grant our magnolia wishes…

First Wish: Please could we have beautiful, perfumed magnolia flowers but on a smaller plant and closer to the ground (and our noses)? Magnolia Fairy Magnolia® is your wish come true. It will grow into a small tree if you want, but it’s just as happy to be clipped into a dense bushy shrub. And in late spring the classic magnolia flowers cover the plants in a breathtaking display. Instead of one or two big blooms, these magnolias make your wishes come true with hundreds of flowers to enjoy.

Second Wish: Please could we have a magnolia that’s quick and easy grow even if you’re a beginner gardener? This magnolia grants your wish by being one of those plants that thrives all by itself. It will grow in full sunshine or part shade. It does like to be settled in with a few welcoming waterings when it first goes in the ground, but once magnolia Fairy Magnolia® has established itself it will handle drier conditions. One more tip, just after the flower show is finished, toss some slow release fertiliser around the base of the plant and you’ll get an even more flowers next time around.

Magnolia wishes
Magnolia Fairy Magnolia® Cream grown as a hedge

Third Wish: Please could we have a magnolia that does more than look lovely? If your garden space is limited, it’s good to know that these evergreen magnolias do more than just put on a flower show. If you want a small but lovely tree, then you can prune it to grow into the shape that you want. If you need something to cover a bare fence or block an ugly view, magnolia Fairy Magnolia® can be clipped into a dense hedge-like screen. Or clipped into loose topiary forms… the list goes on.

Magnolia wishes
Magnolia Fairy Magnolia® Blush

Magnolia Black Tulip

Benefits of planting magnolia trees

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