Returned to Magnolia after a difficult first attempt

My first attempt at Magnolia failed — root encroachment near drains or house foundations got hold of it and I didn't know what I was looking at until it was too late. I left it alone for a year before trying again.

The second attempt, with proper attention to formative pruning in the first five years to build a clear leader, has been completely different. It's now thriving in a small garden with a compact or columnar variety chosen for scale and exceptional seasonal spectacle from blossom through autumn colour is on full display. bare winter silhouette revealing branch structure and bark this year was a genuine reward for starting again. If you failed first time, the plant isn't the problem — the conditions probably were.