Crape Myrtle Mame Progression

[Pitoon]

Good job on that one!

 

[VAFisher]

Fall colors on my little guy.

 

[VAFisher]

I really hate the straightness and the thickness of the first branch on the right. I let that one get away from me for sure. I can cover it with leaves during the growing season but it sticks out like a sore thumb right now.

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi,
Out there suggestion - cut it off for artistic tension reason - eg. there should be something there.
Charles

 

[VAFisher]

Hi,
Out there suggestion - cut it off for artistic tension reason - eg. there should be something there.
Charles

Thanks for the thought. Not sure I'm ready to commit to that right now though.

I'm thinking a hard cut back might cause something to pop closer to the trunk on that branch which will allow me to cut it back to finer growth and put some better movement in it.

 

[luvinthemountains]

I'm thinking a hard cut back might cause something to pop closer to the trunk on that branch which will allow me to cut it back to finer growth and put some better movement in it.

This would be a hard call for me. I do think that a crape myrtle is likely to throw a sprout from the branch stub if you cut it way back. But the trunk-branch transition is an important aspect of the image of a branch, and you have such nice transitions in the other low branches that it might never match. Take that for what it is worth, seeing that your skill is a class above mine at least.

 

[Wood]

do crape myrtles bud back between internodes or only at existing nodes?

 

[Apex37]

do crape myrtles bud back between internodes or only at existing nodes?

I’m my experience they can back bud just about anywhere.

 

[VAFisher]

This would be a hard call for me. I do think that a crape myrtle is likely to throw a sprout from the branch stub if you cut it way back. But the trunk-branch transition is an important aspect of the image of a branch, and you have such nice transitions in the other low branches that it might never match. Take that for what it is worth, seeing that your skill is a class above mine at least.

The hard cut back would need to be done above that branch as well so that anything new wouldn't get shaded out. Another thought is to take a small chunk out of the bottom of the branch with my concave cutters. Might be even worse after it heals though. I don't know - I'll probably just live with it for a while and continue to hide it with foliage during the season.

 

[VAFisher]

Just a quick update on this little tree. I lost a branch in the middle of the trunk over the winter. It leaves a bit of a gap in the structure, but such is life. I've been letting the branches extend out and down in an attempt to make it look like an old Live Oak. I decided to try it on this little slab that I had sitting around this year. I'm not sure if it will stay planted on this or go back into a pot next year. One of these days I'm going to have to let this grow out and flower, just so I can find out what color it is. It's never flowered in all the time I've been growing it because I'm pretty trigger happy with the scissors.