We have bought a house with an old neglected magnolia tree. Can the mis-shapen branches be safely pruned?

The house garden is located in South Melbourne. The tree is about 4 metres high but has had many large branches removed while the house was being renovated about 6 months ago. Other branches are impacting on each other and becoming mis-shapen and deseased. The tree has some new shoots and we want to retore it to good health. Can the mis-shapen branches, up to 5 cms in diameter, be pruned so that the tree can be properly shaped? Is this the correct time of year to undertake this work?

We have bought a house with an old neglected magnolia tree. Can the mis-shapen branches be safely pruned?
Do the pruning next spring, just before it starts to leaf out again. Remove any dead wood or branches that are damaged. If you can, do not remove more then 1/4 of the good branches in any season. Take out the worst and then trim out more next season.
Reply:I have a large Magnolia tree that has to be pruned every couple of years or it grows over into my neighbors yard as well as over my own garage roof. Hire someone that is trained to trim. They'll know about shaping so your tree will look great. I do this just after it is done blooming.
Reply:I know that Crepe Magnolias are proficient in the South. They trim them WAY back in the Fall, which for us is October.


Hope this helps!
Reply:I'm writing from North Dakota on the other side of the world, in more ways than you can imagine. I'm curious as to why you are seeing new growth, shouldn't it be going dormant? Were the roots affected during the renovation, if they were, now would be a good time to sort things out. If not, pruning should be done when dormant. That said, it sounds like the tree has already been through hell and a little more pruning shoudn't hurt.

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