How to Identify and Manage Magnolia Tree Diseases

03.05.2024 - 14:24 / gardenerspath.com / Joe Butler

How to Identify and Manage Magnolia Tree Diseases

With lush foliage, showy blooms, and aesthetically pleasing forms, magnolia trees (Magnolia spp.) are beloved members of any ornamental landscape.

Unfortunately, their beauty can be marred when disease-causing pathogens infect magnolia trees.

Sometimes magnolia diseases can be pretty innocuous, while other times they’re fearsome, hard-to-beat afflictions.

But no matter the disease you’re fighting, there’s almost always something you can do.

We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.

In this guide, we’ll discuss 13 common magnolia diseases, and how to identify and treat them, so you can bring your tree back to full health.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

A quick reminder for keeping any plant disease-free: proper and sanitary cultivation is key.

A healthy plant is better at fighting diseases than one that’s already struggling to stay alive. By providing your magnolia with everything it needs to thrive, you’ll also improve the odds that it’ll survive threats to its health.

If you need a refresher on cultivating magnolias, check out our growing guide.

And I know “sanitary” is a bit oxymoronic, since garden work is naturally a dirty endeavor.

But by keeping your gardening implements sterile and being mindful of how pathogens can spread, you’ll be doing your magnolia trees, and other plants in your garden, a huge favor.

If you didn’t think that algae could afflict land-dwelling trees… think again.

Caused by the parasitic alga Cephaleuros virescens, algal leaf spot spreads by spores that travel via wind and rain to nearby plant surfaces. Multiplying in number, the spores