It actually doesn't mind being crowded. I have seen it in dense woods and the truck grows up without leaves until it gets above everything else. And mine seems to be very slow growing. So it would be a long time before it got as big as the one in your picture.

While they are young, they seem to grow quite vertical. Mine all shoot straight up, not out.

I have a baby one that has paperthin leaves the size of large grandiflora leaves. More spatulate, though. No sign of branching yet.

There is a smaller growing one called 'Little Gem' that's ideal for a smaller yard. The leaves are maybe two-thirds the size of the regular ones and have very nice tomentum on the under-sides, and the flowers are also a little smaller but there are more of them, and they smell just as good. Wonderful little tree!

Another option is growing M. ashei which, I think, is still considered a separate species from M. macrophylla. Even though this plant is found naturally in the deep south only, it should be fully hardy through zone 7. It is a little smaller in all dimensions but still a nice little tree. PF

'Little Gem' is a Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia) cultivar, not M. macrophylla. M. grandiflora is evergreen; M. macrophylla is deciduous.

M. ashei is variously considered a form of M. macrophylla or a species in its own right. Either way, it is closely related to M. macrophylla.

A museum in Newport News has a few macrophyllas in a natives exhibit. It takes so long for them to spread out, that you don't need to worry about size for many years to come. Do not expose them to too much sun or heat. Mine suffered 50% leaf burn over a few days time, until I moved it into shade.