Thoughts on this Crepe Myrtle

[Bonsai Nut]

bummed I wasted most of the season.

You didn't waste the season. You needed those branches to grow so the tree gets strong. Then when you prune it hard you will get a stronger response. Note that this push of growth will be a little weaker because it is later in the season, but that's fine. The leaves should be smaller as well. Each time you generate more branching the tree will spread its strength over more nodes, making each node a little weaker. It will become easier to manage growth and the tree won't throw long leggy extensions. However it will also become more important for you to manage strength equally across all your branches, because the tree will continue to want to prioritize some branches over others, and if you aren't careful your weaker branches can die back.

 

[AaronThomas]

Well… I’m a bit concerned. Zero new growth and it’s been a month since I cut it back. I scratch the bark and it is green however I expected to see some growth by now. Should I be concerned?

 

[BobbyLane]

seems a tad hard for a sept cut back. with the amount of root taken off, the tree might have decided to shut down early this year. this type of cut back would of been great while it had the nursery rootage to power it through quickly.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Well… I’m a bit concerned. Zero new growth and it’s been a month since I cut it back. I scratch the bark and it is green however I expected to see some growth by now. Should I be concerned?

I'm surprised... because you're in Tucson. I'm here in little ole NC and defoliated some valley oaks at the same time and they've burst forth with new growth. I just received a cork oak on 9/15 that was bare-rooted, potted it up, and it is bursting forth with growth everywhere.

Don't panic, even if it doesn't bud out until the spring. Crepe myrtles are so hearty I would be surprised if this one is harmed. You let it grow for quite a while without working it, so it should have plentiful energy reserves.

 

[Hartinez]

Yeah I wouldn’t worry Aaron. I’ve had a few crapes shutdown on me after I cut back a little later than I should. Come spring they pushed as normal.

 

[AaronThomas]

Thank you everybody for your replies… Put me at ease a bit! Lol.
I have been looking every day in hopes of seeing a bit of green protruding.
Today I ended up looking back at some of the original posts and saw it was less than two weeks for new buds to emerge.
I scratched a number of the branches… Probably more than I should have… all are green underneath except for the lowest branch in the back which doesn’t hurt my feelings.
My other thought… And this could be just me overthinking but I have only had two trees in my collection die in the past five years and both were in this pot… Perhaps it is cursed or just made with toxic clay.
AnyWho… Thank you again all for your replies. Will keep my fingers crossed.

 

[AaronThomas]

***SPRING 2023***
Just a quick follow up. Unfortunately the CM did not survive. Nobody to blame but myself... I saw the tree was struggling and ended up cutting way back anyway. Took a chance... so will chalk this one up to many lessons learned. Over all this was an amazing thread with a ton of information form folks with a wealth of knowledge... I look forward to giving this a shot again! Thanks @Bonsai Nut everyone else for contributing! Back to the nursery I go!!!