Growing Crape Myrtles in the Landscape
Today, I would like to share information on one of my favorite plant items, crape myrtles. I base that affection on general characteristics of crape myrtles. They can handle droughts, will live a long time and basically are free of disease and insects issues. Crape myrtles can come in a variety of flower colors and simply can be a low maintenance landscape shrub/ tree when established. I like crape myrtles from an agent standpoint also because I just overall do not receive many client calls with crape myrtle problems.
Other than the bloom color variations, there has been a lot of work in developing crape myrtles that will stay in the 3 feet or small range and some that can get 20 feet or more in height. You can use them as a shrub or a tree depending on the cultivar. This gives you planting site options in regards to crape myrtles. I will be sharing information today from a UGA publication revised by Bodie Pennisi, UGA Extension Horticulturist.
One key to crape myrtle success is planting them correctly in the first place. This landscape item can handle some tough terrain, but it is better to plant them in a prepared ground. You first need to dig a hole that is at least two times wider than the root ball. You will need to set the plant in the hole no deeper that it grew either in the container or in the field originally. After you plant, backfill the hole with the same soil you removed from the planting hole. Try to bust up soil clod ands remove rocks or other debris. Do not add any amendments to the planting hole. Adding amendments to the planting hole will make it inviting for the roots to stay in the hole and not spread out in the surrounding area. If you want to use amendments, you will need to cultivate them in the ground uniformly in the soil all around the planting hole.
When you have the crape myrtle planted, you will need to water to settle the soil around the roots. Do not forget to mulch the crape myrtle with 3- 5 inches of pine straw, pine bark, hardwood mulch or even leaves over an area even beyond just the planting hole. Mulching can be a huge benefit, it can help save soil moisture, can reduce weed competition and can protect the roots from high heat and cold weather events.
I will add that prior to actual planting, you need to pick the right spot. The right spot to maximize your flowering and maximizing growth is in a full sun scenario. Planting in a shady spot will reduce flowering and can set you up for some of the few disease issues such as sooty mold and powdery mildew. If you plant more in the shade, this means you are planting around trees so the trees will be competing for moisture with the crape myrtles and thus can lead to poor growth and flowering too.
In the opening, I mentioned that crape myrtles can handle drought. This is true, but it is always beneficial to irrigate in dry times especially if the dry times occur during flowering season. For the newly planted crape myrtle, you will need to water well at planting and then once a week for the first two months if we are not getting rainfall. With our current droughts, I have not fielded calls on crape myrtles struggling like I have on other landscape items.
Pruning of crape myrtles is a topic that can lead to much debate. Keep in mind that pruning is not essential for flowering in crape myrtles. Our information states that some of the most spectacular floral displays can be seen on old, unpruned crape myrtles. The decision to prune or not to prune as often is up to the owner and how you want to manage that cultivar size wise. If you are going to prune, you need to do so in later winter or early spring. Please stay away from pruning in early fall before the first frost. When you prune, you stimulate new growth and it will delay the plant going dormant if you prune in early fall. This can set the crape myrtle up for death or at least severe freeze damage. A few years back I saw many landscape items showing freeze damage simply because they were pruned at the wrong time. Crape myrtles do flower on the new growth of the season and pruning will result in a large amount of shoots that will form flowers. I will add that some cultivars can benefit from removal of the wilted or spent flower blossoms. This will stimulate more growth and another flower bloom in late summer. It should be noted that a second flowering is hard to do on crape myrtles that bloom for the first time after middle July.
For more information, contact UGA ExtensionGordon County at 706- 629- 8685 or email gbowman@uga.edu.