I have two newly planted Magnolias that might need a little help, one certainly needs pruning, the other I'm not so sure. Everything I read about Magnolias says that they make their own shape and pruning isn't necessary. Generally, I'm happy to not prune anything because I like the wild sort of look.
I was able to find a Sweetbay Magnolia on clearance and was so lucky I did, although it has two stems growing right next to each other, so I'm going to cut one down hoping it branches (and so they aren't rubbing against each other). Does the cut need to be made in any specific place for that to happen? The stem that I want to cut only has leaves on the top of it, and I need to cut it towards the bottom because that's where it starts growing against the other larger stem.
The other Magnolia is an Ann saucer magnolia. It has stems growing pretty much vertically. Do if I trim the tallest stems, and if I do, will it branch out? Is it better to just leave it alone? I don't mind how it looks, but I would like it to get bushier eventually. I wasn't sure if it would make its own side branches by itself.
I really appreciate any advice you might have!