Evergreen Magnolia Magnolia grandiflora Little Gem

Little Gem is the compact selection of the evergreen magnolia: low branching, foliage held to the ground, on a small upright frame. The leaves are noticeably shorter and narrower than those of the full sized types, dark and thick above with a dense rust brown felt beneath. It flowers while still young, white lemon scented cups opening a few at a time across a long warm season, and it trains flat against a wall more willingly than any of the larger grandifloras stocked here.

Hedges, espaliers and pots

For a hedge, space plants 1.5 to 2 metres apart. Against a wall for espalier, a metre apart with a wire frame to tie the arms into, and start the training in the first year while the wood still bends. It also holds condition in a large container for years, which the full sized selections will not do. Growth is slow to moderate, so a hedge is a two or three year project and the grade you buy is close to the effect you get for a good while.

Water is where this one is lost

Little Gem gets used constantly in the positions with the least root room: glazed pots beside a door, a 400mm strip along a driveway, a planter box on a terrace. In a restricted root volume a couple of hot dry days scorch the leaf margins brown, and those leaves never green up again. Because the plant is slow to replace foliage it carries the damage for a year or more and looks burnt the whole time. Put a dripper on a timer for anything in a pot or a narrow bed, check it through summer rather than trusting rainfall, and water deeply when you do. Plant in autumn or early spring, and keep grass and groundcovers back from the base while it establishes.

Yellow leaves on limey ground

On alkaline soil, and in beds where lime has leached out of concrete, render or a nearby path, the foliage yellows between the veins while the veins themselves stay green. Correct it with an acidifying fertiliser carrying chelated iron, mulch with composted pine bark, and keep mushroom compost away from the root zone. Feed in early spring and again in summer, and feed container plants more often in smaller doses. Prune after the main flush of flower, cutting whole shoots back to a leaf node with secateurs so the plant closes over the wound.

Little Gem or Teddy Bear

These two get compared constantly and the difference is the leaf. Teddy Bear carries a much broader, heavier, rounder leaf on a denser plant, which suits a short screen that has to look solid. Little Gem has the finer leaf, gains more height over the same period, and is much the easier of the two to espalier or clip into a narrow hedge. If the available width runs past a couple of metres and the screen has to reach a second storey, Coolwyn Gloss uses the space better. Little Gem is for the tight jobs, and of the evergreen feature trees here it is the one that goes into lines and wall work rather than standing alone.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 20 sizes, from 140mm up to 1000L, priced from $21.95 to $14969.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to choosing a magnolia.