I recently bought and planted a little gem magnolia and want to know if it can have the lower limbs trimmed now to make the shape look better. I live in Livingston, Texas

You can. Just know that it won't put out any new growth until springtime so all the cuts will show all winter long.

I'm not sure that I would get in any hurry to limb this dude.

These small slow-growing evergreen magnolia are typically encouraged to keep all the all the layers... similar to dogwood.

If nothing else, those low limbs can be propagated as new trees by layering... as expensive as these trees are... there's a possible savings right there...

I bought Little Gem 30 years ago. Please be aware these are only little relative to standard southern magnolias. I wish I had planted mine elsewhere as it now overhangs a sidewalk and driveway and I'd prefer it had limbs to the ground (roughly a cone, or broadly rounded) But I've limbed it up and it never complains, but does try to put back a little lower growth.

sallyg said: I've limbed it up and it does try to put back a little lower growth.

Good point...
once we expose the trunk to sunlight most trees try to replace those lower limbs...
It locks us in to constant a limbing of the tree... The new limbs aren't the attractive layers that the tree started out with...

The replacement limbs are those so-called water sprouts... very unattractive!

Water sprouts on the back side

Give these a minimum 20 foot diameter footprint.