I planted a mature 6' tall butterfly magnolia last fall in my back yard where it's exposed to the full sun.

The soil is hard solid clay so it doesn't drain very well. Until now the tree doesn't produce any flower. The leaves doesn't look healthy and it doesn't grow well. What should I do to to help the tree grows better and flowers next year?


Thanks in advance for your tips.

I planted a mature 6' tall butterfly magnolia last fall in my back yard where it's exposed to the full sun.
well it sounds like you didn't give the tree its best choices for growing areas, but in any case you should be able to keep it growing by improving the soil a bit next spring and by feeding it a good quality neutral fertilizer like 8-8-8--as far as flowering goes though you should actually see flowers even if its not doing so well as flowers usually show even heavier on stressed plant as it is natures way of reproducing, and once a plant begins to stress out it tends to try and reproduce---thats why when a plant is being grown for a flower show that the grower will artificially stress it out with either girdling or some other method----try using superphosphate this fall which will normally slow the upper growth of the tree to initiate more root growth--that tends to send that same signal to the plant---------------good luck --blanco
Reply:this fall if the tree last that long .replant it in some good soil that you can buy at any garden store .but for now it just to hot and to dry to mess with .keep it water.
Reply:When you say mature, how old do you mean? Some varieties take longer to flower than others. Also, was it maybe planted too deep? I know with some trees and most plants, planting them too deeply can delay or prevent flowering altogether.
Reply:Keep it watered and maybe get some better soil or some rocks to increase drainage. If the water doesn't drain or evaporate then the roots can rot. Good luck!!!