im know expert bye any stretch of the imagination . it doesn't look like its on a high proportion of the leaves . m aybe go and take all the effected leaves off of it and bin them and or cut it back . are they evergreens ? maybe its normal wear and tear if it is . this is just an educated guess . the other thing you can do is look up your plants common probllems on wikpedia or google images . I hope this helped and I wish I knew more .

Cannot tell if it is in a pot or in the ground as your pictures are appearing upside down on the site. Last year my Photinia had a problem or so I thought, its leaves kept going brown and dropping off. I chopped it back and thought it would help it recover. It did recover. But I think that it is probably something that some plants do, especially the evergreens. They lose their leaves in summer, the holly tree is another which does this and I think that maybe it is just its way of shedding its old leaves. Maybe this is one of them. I do not know the plant but think from looking at the leaves that could maybe be the case.

I agree

I remember yesterday's question - how long have you had this plant, and what is that growing at the base of it? Has whatever is at the base been there before you planted the magnolia, or have you planted it since?

The pics are difficult to look at because they are upside down, but I can see the damage on the leaves quite clearly - it seems its affecting the upper growth, with healthier leaves beneath, judging by the second picture. From that picture, I'd assess the damage as environmental, to do with growing conditions, but if you could answer my questions above, that'd be helpful, and I also suggest you go out and inspect the whole plant, from top to bottom, backs of leaves, stems and branches, to see if there's anything that shouldn't be there - insects on the backs of leaves, scale on the woody parts, soft or soggy areas on the stems, particularly at the base.

It is dying a slow agonising death!

Magnolia Grandiflora is a big tree - it will grow over 30ft high with almost as much spread. Looks like you have it stuck between two brick walls in a tiny bed where it is having to compete for water with thirsty herbaceous plants (and grass).

It won't like being moved but as soon as this season's leaves have dropped I suggest that it needs digging up with the biggest rootball you can manage and replanting into a well-prepared hole in an open area - at least 10 ft from your house walls. It will then need lots of tlc for at least 12 months.

Hi, I was about to say the same thing as Urbanite, they need far more room to grow, and I would suggest about 20 to 25 ft away , Derek.

Well yes, Derek, 20-25 ft would be better - I'm going on an 'average' front garden, and allowing that 10ft would give it a bit of space to grow for a few years.

Well I dunno you guys - certainly it looks to be crowded at the base, but this particular magnolia can be trained against a wall... it's just how close to the wall its been planted I'd like to know, and precisely how much root spread it can make.

Hmm - You can shackle human beings to walls - doesn't mean that you should.

Magnolia Grandiflora deserves space to grow; there are plenty of plants that have been bred/evolved to grow against/up walls that would be much better suited.