Guess what? They are back, and there are more of them now that there were before. Every little piece of root that was left in the ground has sprouted a new tree creating quite a thicket. I fear they will not be going away any time soon. One bonus will be many seedling trees which I will attempt to plant somewhere else outside the walls. I already have one that came from a seed. It is planted behind the pool garden. Unfortunately it is looking crispy brown this year not having had any water all summer. I think I may have its replacement.
Drive-By Gardens: Colorful in Tarrytown
2 hours ago
I don't know about EVER. But, we fought some in our old garden for 20 years! They're probably still there. We moved away.
ReplyDeleteThe bonus is, you have free plants.
Let's hope this heating is beginning to wane.
Stay cool...
I had the same thing happen. When we put in our new fence last summer, an old and very tall crape myrtle had to be cut down. I even dug out a lot of the root because I planted giant timber bamboo in its place.
ReplyDeleteHowever, crape myrtle has come back from what was left and is thriving. It's doing much better than my other crape myrtles. For those afraid of crape myrtle murder, I'd say -- it seems what a crape myrtle wants most is to be cut to the ground.
They are amazingly tough. Pretty though!!! And you have a solution for that one spot!
ReplyDeleteAt least they are blooming!! They look pretty massed together like that.
ReplyDeleteI guess you could just shear them down every year, and have a low blooming hedge . . .
ReplyDeleteI now what would kill them but it wouldn't be politically correct in Austin..lol.
ReplyDeleteWell, with beautiful flowers like that in this heat and drought, why not keep them? Like MSS said, just cut them back every year to keep them shrub-sized (assuming size was the issue with them).
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, Dr. Monica Swartz at Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve describes crape myrtle as an "emerging invasive species." (Apparently it takes a couple of hundred years to figure out an ornamental is invasive.) Greggo has your solution, if you choose to accept it. I don't have the room to plant one myself, but I love looking at our neighbor's tree with its light lilac-colored blooms. Gorgeous.
ReplyDelete