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Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 5-9
- Spacing: 10-15'
- Exposure: Sun/Part Shade
- Deer Resistant: Yes
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Sweetbay Magnolia - single stem
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With its airy habit and silver-backed leaves dancing in the wind, Sweetbay Magnolia will bring a feeling of lightness to your landscape, making a pleasing contrast to dark evergreens, stone, brick, and wood. This delicate Magnolia is heavy on fragrance, and every year you’ll look forward to late spring and early summer, when this small specimen tree opens its creamy-white flowers. They pour out a lovely lemony scent that you’ll come to associate with grilling out, backyard picnicking, sitting by the pool, and all the outdoor fun that takes place during that wonderful time of year. And, being a moderately fast-growing tree, Sweetbay Magnolia doesn’t take long to get the show underway!
Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 5-9
- Spacing: 10-15'
- Exposure: Sun/Part Shade
- Deer Resistant: Yes
- Show more ›
Recommended by Our Growers
The Story
English settlers called this tree the “Beaver Tree,” because they used the aromatic roots to bait beaver traps. They also used the flowers to make perfume and the wood to make veneers and small boxes. Spicebush and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies have been using this tree for eons to raise their young, so if you’re looking to attract either beavers or butterflies to your yard, this is the tree for you! Our “Single-Stem” Sweet Bays are grown in an unconventional way for the species—“Tree-Form,” like their cousin, the Southern Magnolia.
The Details
So many wonderful traits…where do we start? This environmentally friendly native tree has long bluish-green, semi-evergreen foliage with silvery undersides. Very fragrant, lemony-scented, creamy white flowers bloom in early summer and are followed by unique fruit pods with orange-red seeds. All of these exceptional characteristics make it an excellent choice for your outdoor living area.
How to Grow
Sweetbay Magnolia is a neat tree with fragrant cream colored flowers in summer. They tend to be a little fussier than other Magnolias though. They prefer full sun to light shade and a protected location from harsh winter winds. Sweetbays also like soils that are acidic and a little on the organic side, they are also tolerant of moist soils. One major plus is that the Sweetbay is free of pests. Apply a medium rate fertilizer to your Sweetbay once a year in the fall. This application is only needed for the first few years (about 3 or 4) and it supplies your tree with the essential nutrients needed to provide lush new growth and flowers for the following spring. These yearly feedings also help your tree become established in your landscape. Sweetbay’s do not require pruning, but if needed prune after it is done blooming - Sweetbay’s bloom on old growth, not new growth.
More Info
Size Guide
Scale
This graphic shows the approximate size and form of the Tree you are viewing.
Size B Trees:
6-8' tall grown as a single stem tree form. Branching begins above 4'. Stem caliper 1 1/2" grown in our #15 tree container.
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