New Magnolias looking poor

[Hawkeye]

I bought two Leonard Messel Magnolias late spring whose leaves were quite sparse at the time. They were half price so I figured they were worth a gamble. When I got them out of the pots, the roots were quite densely packed in there. Pretty immediately after planted, they both lost all the leaves above the first two branches. Over the next few weeks, the remaining live branches leafed out nicely and new growth appeared lower on the trunk. One of them even sent up a chute from the roots. So before long they got to the point you see in the picture, nice and alive below and dead at the top.

Assuming the tops are gone and will not come back next spring, are these worth saving? I'm sure they'll survive, but will they ever look like decent trees after dying back this much? If they're worth saving, what's the best pruning strategy?

 

[treeseer]

When I got them out of the pots, the roots were quite densely packed in there. what's the best pruning strategy?

1. Dig em up.

2. Hose off all the soil you can.

3. Straighten out all the roots you can.

4. prune off the kinkiest roots.

5. Prepare a bed wide enough to fit the longest roots.

6. Replant, following the directions in New Tree Planting, found in the link below.

7. Oh yeah, the branches. prune off all those that do not show green inner bark when you scratch em with your thumbnail. pick a vigorous branch to be the new top and "splint" it vertical if need be.

big trees in little pots are cheap for a good reason. but you knew that by now right?