Professional gardeners?

[pSinatra]

30 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Can I ask for some advice? We have a magnolia that is 20 years old, slow growing but is starting to encroach on our neighbours garden meaning the petal fall in late spring lands in their garden maybe causing them problems. I'm reluctant to cut off the overhanging branches as it will likely cause open gaps in the leaf growth and I don't know if they will recover and refill. 

 

Late summer, going into autumn would be ideal time to prune magnolia.  So, now would be a good time.  I generally find magnolias problem free & can take a decent/hard prune.  Now may seem a bit early in the year to prune as winter/spring is the usual time, but they flower early in the spring & you stand less chance of removing next years buds/flowers.

 

I can't really say without knowing how much you're looking at removing, but it sounds like it may look a little lob-sided if you take a load off one side.  You'll know what's best.  You may want to even it out by taking a few other branches on your side of the fence.

 

Like I said, I've never had problems with magnolias. They can usually take whatever you throw at them.