I usually prune my deciduous trees after they go into dormancy. The wood will heal OK if you decide to prune them for shape now. Is the Magnolia evergreen or deciduous? If evergreen I believe spring would be best.

This is about the worst time possible to prune. Pruning very much now will stimulate new growth that's not likely to have time to harden off before winter. Pruning during dormancy or during early spring is generally the best time for tree pruning. Mid-summer pruning can be beneficial, for various reasons, for some trees and for certain circumstances.

I would only prune now in cases where I was removing dead, diseased, or maybe rubbing branches, or, if the pruning was only very minor.

Brandon, no disrespect, but in zone 6 now, we are nearly at first frost time. It MAY be 3-4 weeks before the first frost here. Likely in zone 7 Tennessee you are correct, but I won't say I KNOW you are wrong, but it is likely that growth is done for the season. I just pruned my Colorado spruces, and I am pretty sure it is okay. If Nashville is going to be warm for a while vs. MY zone 6 Pa, forgive my ignorance. I am going by the zone 6 the OP listed, I can see leaves changing color here. I think any new growth is done for the season in zone 6.

I'm doing a lot of pruning now. Mostly taking off lower limbs of conifers. I need the room. I'm not worrying about new growth because there won't be any, this time of year or any time of year.
Shearing certain plants is another matter, but then the only plant I shear is the Crocagator. He's overgrown and a bit deformed. I'm cutting him back to stubs next Spring and start over. At 32, he's past his prime.
Mike

does anyone care how 'very' young OPs plants are ... and what exactly the point is of their need to be pruned???

some might suggest.. that without a pic.. that pruning is not recommended on VERY YOUNG trees

its the old.. every leaf is a food making machine.. if you prune off all the food making machines.. what is going to feed the root growth next season .. ones need to prune the devil out of a tree is done in tree years.. rather than one personal need to cut up a very young tree ... 72 hours after planting them.. etc ...

how about some pix.. for application of theory to actual plants

ken

I know I'm even more radical than Ken...but usually I find that trees grow in a pleasing natural shape if you leave them alone.

They really do know what they're doing (lol) unless they had really bad conditions while young that forced bad branching...and even then?

Jowall, what is your idea of the 'correct shape'?
Most people prune their trees to make them a miniature of what they will look like when they're big, expecting them to enlarge like a balloon. It doesn't work that way.
That's fine if you are doing Niwaki, a form of pruning where you keep the tree small and make it look big, like bonsai, but I doubt you're doing that with the trees mentioned.
Pictures, please.
Mike

Shaping = limbing up and leader establishment.

Of particular interest is the water oak (member of the read oak family) I've been advised to avoid pruning when I actually like to prune (late winter and early spring) because of fear of oak wilt. This tree is 3 years old and about 9 feet tall. There are a # of limbs up top competing to be leader.

The sweetbays have lots of limbs. I need to trim back to establish the 3-5 main trunks.

That's what I'm trying to do.

Poaky1, further north, you are probably correct that there won't be much growth to worry about. Unless the trees are dormant, some growth would occur, but may not represent a problem. Here, in Tennessee, we are still very warm (mid 80's) and significant pruning can definitely lead to new frost-tender growth. This new growth includes the beginning of wound covering, which can be set back from pruning at this time.
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"I've been advised to avoid pruning when I actually like to prune (late winter and early spring) because of fear of oak wilt."

IF you really want to worry about this, you still have plenty of time to do the pruning before mid-March. Late February or early March would be ideal.

The concern for transmission of oak wilt fungus between members of the red oak group is legitimate, if a bit misunderstood: If you've ever had a bottle of suds outside on a warm summer day, you've probably seen the picnic beetle, a small, all black beetle with a huge fondness for beer, or more correctly, the yeasty smell of beer. So turns out the oak wilt fungus also has a yeasty smell, and that same beetle enjoys landing on an infected oak, nibbling a little bit, get some of the fungus on it, then flying to another recently-pruned oak which is in the area.

This is a concern roughly during the growing season-wherever you and your oaks are-and subsides by this time of year everywhere. Still, I'd wait until well into winter to do my pruning, unless there was no option. The two worst times to prune trees are spring, when the new foliage is being formed, and fall, when the tree is dispensing with its old foliage and making preparations for winter. Other than those two times, it's all pretty good, with the obvious exceptions of oaks during oak wilt transmission time.

+oM

ps.....I can't count the number of times I've seen magazine articles, etc. extolling the virtues of fall pruning. This is yet another example of how things get confused in this industry-fall is, as I indicated above, one of the two bad times of the year to be messing with your trees, but because people love to be outside working in the fall, many have taken up the mantle that this is the time of year to do such work. It'ain't.

This is so helpful. Thanks.

I've heard that oak wilt is not a concern for pruning of limbs smaller than 2" in diameter. Is that true?

That's not how I'd look at it. All it's got to be is big enough for a picnic beetle to land on-that being the main vector for oak wilt. Of course, much spread of the disease happens because of root grafts among trees in a group.

+oM

The obvious has not been asked.

How big are the trees you intend to prune?

If you have planted them with in the last couple of years and the diameter of the trunks is less and an inch they are too young to trim.

Let them grow and don't try to trim them into what you want but see what they want and work with that. Slowly work them by trim in them very slowly. You will have much happier trees.

I have a Magnolia that is about 4 years from seed, It is growing in all sort of ways. My impulse is to trim the lower branches, and make it a tree. The problem is that it you push with the trimming you will end up with a long thin truck that will not support the crown that you are working to develop.

Give it a chance to enjoy its childhood