I would plant it first and then give it a chance to establish before I started hacking it about. You might find that with even sunshine and shade it will sort itself out. Magnolia stellata is never going to be a lollipop tree. Anyhow, I wouldn't prune it at the same time it is coping with being transplanted.

What flora said.

Dan

Is this the straight species or the cultivar 'Royal Star'?

I'm not sure about the straight species but if its a 'Royal Star' that is not a typical speciman. They are typically much more shrubby and rounded.

They are very common around here and I've never seen one look that poorly. If you can, I'd take it back.

{{gwi:335716}}

Problem is, I have no idea what kind of pruning would be helpful.

NONE ...NADA ...ZILCH... zero ... [except probably root pruning, see below]

put down the shears and step away ...

agree per above.. plant it and do nothing for 3 years ... every leaf is a food making machine ... and if.. on a RECENT transplant.. you go cutting off the food making machines.. how will it vigorously grow the roots it needs ..

now.. check the pix at the link ... you will be hard pressed to find a plant with a single straight leader .. you guys are thinking about enforcing a preconceived notion of how it should look ... why???

this mag. is more of a shrub.. not a tree ... and i suggest you let it be what it is supposed to be... its a lot easier ... lol ...

if you want a more tree like mag .. then return this one .. and get the type you want ...

this is one of my faves.. just bulletproof up here in my z5 ... and after 10 years.. still only about a 4 by 4 foot shrub ... i was kinda startled by the pix at the link .. they are much bigger down south.. go figure on that ...

early bloom .. mucho flowers .. a joy ...

that pot looks severely root bound.. i dont know if i would have chosen that plant due to the two huge surface roots ...

if you dont know what to do about that.. ask ..

PROPER PLANTING , WATERING and MULCHING will be very helpful ...

good luck .. try not to love it to death ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

This latest question is a repeat post and has been answered on another thread.

Agree primarily with those who have advised patience. I know-what's that word mean, right? In any case, I might do a tiny bit of subordination on the errant side branch, but that would be it. It sure doesn't need straightening-the combined factors of phototropism (growth towards light) and gravity will cause the plant to develop its proper "shape" just fine, thank you. If there was one thing I could change in the mindsets of lots of peeps buying and planting young trees, it would be the errant notion that it is we who shape plants. I'm pretty sure millions of years of evolution have provided plants with perfect mechanisms for just that.
None of which should be taken to indicate I'm anti-pruning. It's just that "shaping" is not one of the reasons for doing so.

I had a Magnolia breeder (Lewis) tell me once that when you prune a Star Magnolia, prune it so a bird can fly through it. He was against congestion of any kind, a good point to remember in almost any pruning task.

Other than some very minor subordinate pruning, I'd wait a bit on this one until it has some size to it.

Get it out of the pot and into the ground.

"He was against congestion of any kind, a good point to remember in almost any pruning task."

I've got a Magnolia 'Ann' that has developed a nasty case of powdery mildew the past two years. It's still a small plant, but was very congested. A couple weeks ago I did a fairly extensive pruning (probably more than 1/3) in an effort to open it up. I sure hope this helps 'cause I'm not sure I want to look at a magnolia that regularly goes through this cycle.

I am a bit surprised at the recommendations for what is essentially hard pruning of a magnolia. Magnolias are notoriously resentful about pruning, require very little and pruning a mature tree is generally suggested to be avoided at all costs. Hard pruning even young magnolias is discouraged because it results the formation of a lot of watershoots and multiple twig growth from each pruning cut, much like dogwoods do.

I would suggest using a very light hand in pruning/shaping/trimming even a very young magnolia. Not all trees require or need pruning - that is something we as gardeners impose upon them to supposedly increase or improve aesthetics when in fact the tree is structurally sound and happy as a clam growing the way it wants.

Congested growth results in dieback. Just remove what's going to get shaded out and die anyway.

I'd add that in shade-tolerant trees-and this is important-shade-tolerant inner foliage from just about any tree, too much of this removal can open the door to sunscald and other bad things. And more importantly, the plant will simply pop lots of previously dormant buds and in no time be back where it started. I would take a hard look at some of these ideas. Moderation my friends....moderation. Mostly-the plant "knows" how much foliage it should have.

I bought a multi-stemmed sweetbay Magnolia a few years ago that had crossing/wayward branching similar to this example (guessing that it spent some time on its side). I did not prune it, but set up three tomato stakes around the plant and strapped the three leaders to them to train for more uniform spacing. Training just took one growing season. You could do something similar this summer to straighten out that central leader if you want. It's an aesthetic choice. I personally would prune the two lower branches long term, but agree with the others that holding off for a year or two is advisable.