S & J Nursery’s Guide to Growing
D. D. Blanchard Magnolia
in the Northeast Florida Landscape
( Magnolia grandiflora D.D. Blanchard )
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Origins:
– A selection of the North American Native Magnolia Grandiflora
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Preferred Exposure:
– Full sun to partial sun/shade situations are tolerated in the North Florida | Jacksonville | St. Augustine area landscape.
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Foliage | Bark:
– Magnolia D.D. Blanchard remains evergreen keeping its foliage in the winter season.
– Foliage of the Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Southern Magnolia is extremely large and showy in comparison to other Southern Magnolias. The leaves are a deep dark shiny green on the surface with a deep dark coppery brown underneath making quite a contrast of color and the perfect backdrop to the huge white fragrant Magnolia blooms.
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Soil Preference / Salt tolerance:
– Magnolia D.D. Blanchard will prefer slightly acidic soil but will tolerate sand, loam, clay, slightly alkaline and even occasionally wet
soils.
– Only moderately salt tolerant
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Size Variance:
– Can reach sizes of 50+ feet H | and spreading narrowly only to about 25+ ft feet wide making it fit nicely in the medium sized category of Southern Magnolias
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Growth Habit:
– Magnolia D.D. Blanchard are densely foliated trees with a wide but pyramidal growth habit and tend to have branches very near ground level unless pruned up by removing the lower branches to expose underneath the tree.
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Growth Rate:
– Magnolia D.D. Blanchard trees are moderate growers with an extremely long life span.
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Bloom:
– These trees have a very large and highly fragrant creamy white leathery blooms that reach10 inches across with a central cone that will enlarge and open up after the petals have gone to expose beautiful bright red seeds that are utilized by various wildlife in the North Florida | Jacksonville |St. Augustine area landscapes and gardens.
– Its no wonder these impressive blooms are the state flower for both Louisianan and Mississippi.
Magnolia D.D. Blanchard Water Requirements:
– Plants will need daily water after being planted from a container or transplanted into the landscape and supplemental irrigation during periods of reduced local rainfall for the first season or two.
Butterfly or Bird Attracting:
– Seed cones are utilized by various wildlife.
Best Uses For Magnolia D.D. Blanchard in the North Florida | Jacksonville | St. Augustine landscape:
– Southern Magnolia D.D. Blanchard is an ideal selection for a moderate to large garden area or where space limitations would make the broader spreading Southern Magnolia selections out of place. Its more columnar growth habit also makes it ideal for a lawn shade tree for the front or back yard, Magnolia D.D. Blanchard will supply excellent coverage to screen large unwanted views and will remain evergreen in the winter time and have the added bonus of the large fragrant blooms.
– Use Southern Magnolia D.D. Blanchard as a foundation accent only when you will be able to place it 15 ft from the foundation of a home, not because the roots are problematic but because of the multitude of lateral growing
branches that will within 10-20 years of being planted in the landscape be growing 12+ feet from the trunk. Magnolia D.D. Blanchard can be planted closer to structures where you will be clearing the lower branches up and
away from impediments such as sidewalks, sheds, garages etc. – Southern Magnolias also make excellent street trees.
Care of Southern Magnolia D.D. Blanchard:
– Although Magnolia trees can be planted from a container into the landscape any time of the year in our North Florida | Jacksonville | St. Augustine area landscapes, Magnolias root systems
are very wide for their size making transplanting sometimes difficult, so if you decide to move one from one location to another in
the yard be sure to do it in winter or spring for the best result possible.
– Water every day during the establishment period, See watering your newly planted trees for more information. Magnolia’s must be
watched for the first one to two seasons after being planted
or transplanted in the landscape and supplemental water supplied in any time of drought. They are slower to establish themselves into
the landscape than many other trees and should be watered
well once a week when local rainfall is scarce.
– Magnolias respond well to pruning, when shaping a younger tree
they should be pruned 6 inches deeper than where you would like to see the re-growth appear. Everywhere you trim the tree will sprout new growth and begin to branch out and fill in. So if you have a scarcely foliated Magnolia tree get out the pruners and remove as many growing tips as possible, prune deeper into the branch in
scarcely foliated areas to get them to branch out and fill in the gaps.
– Magnolias have lots of branches all though they will be smaller in diameter in comparison to other larger growing shade trees like an Oak. Prune out the occasional occurrence of a branch at a sharper angle than 45 degrees or if damaged etc. by removing the branch all the way back to the trunk.
– Provide a 1 ft diameter circle of mulched area where grass is kept from growing for each inch of caliper (or diameter) of trunk
measured 4 inches from the ground level.
– Fertilize each spring with a mixture of Milorganite and a slow release poly coated plant food
such as Osmocote or Stay Green general purpose plant food, sprinkling the fertilizer around the mulch circle underneath the
foliage of the tree.