Crepe Myrtle flowers

crab apple

Shohin
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Location
N/W Florida
USDA Zone
9a
I have a crepe myrtle growing in a pot and I'm only really concerned with putting girth on the trunk, it will probably get ground planted next spring and I'll work on the roots some then, it already responded really well last spring to messing with the roots. So its starting to build flower buds on all the top growth, I would enjoy seeing the flowers but not if its gonna significantly rob resources from building the trunk, should I go ahead and clip just below the flowing activity or are the flowers not really gonna cause much of a difference. The trees about 6 or 7 feet tall.
Also I have the opportunity to ground plant it right now but i realize I probably would get to do the root work if I did, should I stick it in the ground now w/out the root work or just wait till next spring when I can do it all at one time?
 

SWfloirda

Chumono
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Location
Southwest Florida
USDA Zone
10a
Plenty of differing opinions I'm sure but here's mine. I have found that if I remove the blooms too early the tree will make more, thus using energy, I leave them on but just as soon as they finish blooming I remove them before they even start to fade. They bloom again but with more branching. And while crepes are fairly tough if you just did root work last spring I'd let it rest until next spring.
 
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