What is up with all the Crepe Myrtles? (Austin, Nash: living in, restaurant)

[hooky hornstein]

Originally Posted by riaelise

My experiences with them haven't been that great. Aphid prone, needs more water than other trees, powdery mildew. Wax myrtles however are really low maintenance -- though they're just a large green tree and nothing more.

You know, riaelise, I have to agree with the other poster/s who said your experience is atypical. I have six crepe myrtles in my yard and I don't pamper them. They get the same treatment as all the other trees. Nothing more, nothing less. No extra water. No extra pruning. No extra care. And they do fine. No mildew. No curled leaves. No problem whatsoever.

Have you ever had your soil analyzed? Maybe your soil is more alkaline than that of most people around here or something.

[hooky hornstein]

Originally Posted by AustinDude360

They are nice, but a lot of people just chainsaw them down like shrubs which wreck the trees. It's a bit difficult to find a medium sized tree that flowers like they do. Magnolias come to mind, but we have a lot of areas with alkaline soil that they don't like.

There seems to be a movement among lawn care/landscape people to convince the general public that crepe myrtles need to have their tops cropped every year just before spring. I think it is just a way for them to charge extra because it doesn't do the crepe myrtle any good. Indeed, it just stunts their growth, like you say, AustinDude360.

I do prune my crepe myrtles but never by chopping their tops off. I remove the little suckers shooting from the base, the dead branches and the horizontal side branches. In my front yard, my crepe myrtles have grown to be about 15' tall. They provide a lot of shade and the bloom gorgeously.

[vlan1]

Originally Posted by cBach

This has got to be the most lamo thread. Somebody complaining about crepe myrtles? Come on, they define the South. If you don't like them, I just don't know what to say.

Again.

Was not complaining about crepe myrtles. I was simply curious as to why they are so ubiquitous since I am not originally from the area.

[hooky hornstein]

Originally Posted by vlan1

Again.

Was not complaining about crepe myrtles. I was simply curious as to why they are so ubiquitous since I am not originally from the area.

Don't worry about it. The thread is up to five pages. Hardly "lamo" in the eyes of most. Besides, look at all the other threads on this forum. People talk about crazy stuff. It's ok. It's fun. People complaining about this particular thread is kind of like somebody walking into a forest, picking out a tree and saying, "You know what? This tree really pisses me off!"

[ScoPro]

What's with all the snowblowers up North?

[cBach]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

What's with all the snowblowers up North?

Yeah and those maple trees and cherry blossoms. I mean, I was in Washinton DC and there were like tons of cherry blossoms. What's up with that? I mean I'm from the South, we don't have those here. And those birch trees, I mean, they have smooth bark just like a crepe myrtle but they are trees. I mean how weird is that? I'm used to oak bark so that just seems weird to me.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by hooky hornstein

There seems to be a movement among lawn care/landscape people to convince the general public that crepe myrtles need to have their tops cropped every year just before spring. I think it is just a way for them to charge extra because it doesn't do the crepe myrtle any good. Indeed, it just stunts their growth, like you say, AustinDude360.

Known by my Master Gardener DW as "Crepe Murder". Happened all the time back in Atlanta. Folks are trying to keep it like a shrub instead of a tree.

Fun story...finally dug up the roots of a long-removed Crepe Myrtle that had spread under a driveway and walk...for a good 25 feet! Took a section of the remnants and stabbed it into the ground in the back yard. Sure enough, the next year that tree looked like it had been professionally installed and nursed back to health! Grew nicely for the next 2-3 years before we moved. Wonder what it looks like seven years later

[hooky hornstein]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Took a section of the remnants and stabbed it into the ground in the back yard. Sure enough, the next year that tree looked like it had been professionally installed and nursed back to health! Grew nicely for the next 2-3 years before we moved. Wonder what it looks like seven years later

Amazing.

And isn't interesting how some plants are so hearty and intrepid while others are so sensitive?

I have a ficus in my living room that will drop forty leaves on the floor if you give it a dirty look.

[ScoPro]

Well, since our St. Augustine front lawn died out over the past 4 years of drought, heat, & pestilence, we decided to xeriscape it. One of our sons did the basic work over two days, and we will be adding several planter pots with flowers in the center mulch bed & corners, but NO crape myrtles . So far:

(hope the picture is right side up)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Well, since our St. Augustine front lawn died out over the past 4 years of drought, heat, & pestilence, we decided to xeriscape it. One of our sons did the basic work over two days, and we will be adding several planter pots with flowers in the center mulch bed & corners, but NO crape myrtles . So far:

(hope the picture is right side up)

Looks nice. Only comment is that those metal edges rust over time and easily pierce bare feet. Then it will be tetanus time. So I probably would have put stones on the edge. But overall it looks really good. And free labor huh?