I pulled all the leaves (They were all dry and ugly) and cleaned up these magnolia branches. They are going to be good for perches, I think, and mobiles.

There are a lot of buds attached, and I was wondering if it's best cutting them all off. Are they poisonous for birds? And even if they aren't poisonous, they are very velvety so I am not sure they can be cleaned and disinfected properly.







The other question is whether the wood is healthy.
There are a few types of magnolias and the photos I have seen on the internet show different types of texture.
But these ones I got are all heavily dotted, so I am wondering if they could be sick

All the sites I looked at indicated that magnolia is completely nontoxic so the velvety buds should be OK. Direct sunlight is a good sterilizing agent (the UV rays do the work) so letting the branches sit out in the sun for a while will help get rid of anything you might have missed while washing them.

I couldn't find any definite information on the white spots, but my best guess is that it might be caused by scale insects. There are pictures on the internet that look somewhat similar, see http://www.treeservicesmagazine.com/article-9208.aspx for example. They're very bad for trees because they suck the sap out, but apparently they aren't harmful to anything else - there are birds and insects that eat them. I would try to scrub the spots off anyway because I'm not 100% sure if they're safe.

Did that tonight, first with a cloth, then with my nail I tried to scrape it off. But It looks like a mark in the tree, and it's not possible to remove it.
I just wrote an email with the pictures attached to a couple of gardening experts I found online, hoping that one will get back to me.

The marks are completely flat, and it doesn't look like there might be scale insects, but what do i know!

I think it's time to get a big knife out and peel a small section, see what's beneath.
Now, wouldn't it be funny if they were just paint spray? Maybe the lady who gave me the branches did some paint job in the garden... wishful thinking lol but I really hope it's not insects or worst.