{"id":2943,"date":"2019-08-07T00:07:51","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T07:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/pal-question-586\/"},"modified":"2023-08-08T12:41:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T19:41:27","slug":"magnolia-grandiflora-root-system","status":"publish","type":"pal","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/magnolia-grandiflora-root-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Magnolia grandiflora root system"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently built a 2-foot tall boulder retaining wall in my<\/strong>
\nfront yard. I have a small landscape bed along the top of the wall. I<\/strong>
\nwant to plant a small evergreen tree in the landscape bed to provide<\/strong>
\nprivacy from a busy intersection at the corner of my property. I’m pretty much settled on a Magnolia grandiflora<\/em> ‘Little Gem.’ Do you think the roots of this tree will interfere with\/knock-down my boulder wall, if the tree is installed in a location where the trunk of the tree is approximately 2 feet behind the wall?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two feet from the edge does not sound like enough space to me. Although
\nit grows relatively slowly, Magnolia grandiflora<\/em> ‘Little Gem’ will reach
\nat least 20 feet, and dislikes root disturbance. From the tree’s point of
\nview, the boulders might be a problem. Below is a link to general
\ninformation about the tree, from Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute.<\/a><\/p>\n

The following, from University of Florida Extension,<\/a> describes the root
\nsystem of this tree:<\/p>\n

“The root system is wider spreading than most other trees, extending from the trunk a distance equal to about four times the canopy width. This
\nmakes it very difficult to save existing Magnolia trees on construction
\nsites.”<\/p>\n

It is possible your tree might coexist peacefully with the retaining
\nwall, but my recommendation would be to plant it as far away from the
\nwall as you can, and leave the bed at the edge for perennials and small
\nshrubs. Here is general information on the needs of tree roots, from
\nBrooklyn Botanic Garden’s Tree Care Primer<\/em> by Christopher Roddick (2007):<\/p>\n

“Out of view, and usually out of mind, roots make up almost a third of a
\ntree’s mass. Trees need a serious amount of underground real estate.
\nUnfettered by subterranean obstacles, their root zones easily spread far
\nbeyond the tree’s dripline, the perimeter of the tree’s branches. If
\nroots are curtailed by obstacles that inhibit their spread, the amount of
\nwater, nutrients, and oxygen to which they have access will be limited.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently built a 2-foot tall boulder retaining wall in my front yard. I have a small landscape bed along the top of the wall. I want to plant a small evergreen tree in the landscape bed to provide privacy from a busy intersection at the corner of my property. I’m pretty much settled on a Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem.’ Do you think the roots of this tree will interfere with\/knock-down my boulder wall, if the tree is installed in…<\/p>\n

Continue reading Magnolia grandiflora root system<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[746,548],"class_list":["post-2943","pal","type-pal","status-publish","hentry","keyword-magnolia-grandiflora","keyword-tree-roots"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal\/2943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pal"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=2943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}