Crepe Myrtle

[kvan64]

Very nice work Alpineart. Great determination too. I would have kept it as a semi cascade which will probably produce a less appealing tree in the future. Thump up to you
DK

[alpineart]

G'day Pup, by the time i've finished with it it most certainly will have some history and a great story to tell. If i handed it to my Son its 3 generations old , any of my 5 grand children and it 4 generations old . I would have preferred the cream or beige drum pot unfortunately they were only 200mm or less .This blue pot is 260mm but with the white flowers it should have a nice contrasting colour. I cant see it remaining in there for too long it is possibly pot bound already with a base over 110mm .It needs some root work , i will try the tooth pick method , i guess now would be a good time to do it but that would require another pot to sink it lower into , might have to re-pot another tree down in order to do the job .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Hi kvan64 , cascades and semi cascades would be hard yakka .I have 3 layers , 2 of which will be semi and full cascades but they are definitely upright growing tree's .If they are too much like hard work i will turn 1 into a raft and the other into a shohin , either way they grow like a noxious weed . I have used the upper side branch for a new leader, this will hopefully grow on and thicken the upper old leader quicker . At 500mm high i hope to finish the tree at around 700mm as an informal upright or a broom with attitude .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Well this is blooming well ,

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thought i would share his before i hack it back ,

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.This pink tree has appeared from an unknown source ,

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maybe old age is setting in here too.I must ring my Mother to see if she is missing a tree , for the life of me i cant remember where it come from .I took these pics with the old camera and uploaded with the new , won't be doing this too often .

Cheers Alpineart

[Damian Bee]

That is a sweet looking Crepe Myrtle

[alpineart]

Hi Damian Bee , its looking good , now its time to hack it back ready for a nicer showing next season .

Cheers Alpine

[The Hacker]

Hi Alpine

Very nice lookin tree, it's coming along nicely, Dose your Mother have anymore Crepe Myrtle's growne in the back yard

Regard's

The Hacker

[Andrew F]

Always preferred the white flowers on a myrtle, as always great job alpine.

[alpineart]

Hi Hacker , i think she may have a few in the front yard . i trimmed them back hard on my last visit .

Hi VS , Hopefully next season there will be a White cascade and a Raft forest from the layers i took off it .

Cheers Guys . Alpine

[Andrew F]

Hi VS , Hopefully next season there will be a White cascade and a Raft forest from the layers i took off it .

Hmmmmm might layer a myrtle next season Now to find a white one.

[alpineart]

Well i did trim this prior to leafing out then let it run .

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With this impressive display of flowers

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it has and will be allowed to continue untrimmed

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for the rest of the season then cut back hopefully thickening the new leader and branches somewhat . With the flowering on the ends of the new growth the canopy on this tree will have to be around 900mm in diameter . With a base of 100mm it should have good proportion . I'll be keen to see the root mass with such strong growth , come winter another pot will be sourced be it bigger or smaller depending on the roots . The bark on the trunk is just beginning to exfoliate which adds further character , it will be even better once the canopy is higher up the trunk and the natural features can be exploited .

Cheers Alpineart

[Qitianlong]

Hi Alpineart, so do you cut back hard after flowering?

[alpineart]

Hi Alpineart, so do you cut back hard after flowering?

Hi Qitianlong , mate i did last year , but the leader and branches didn't thicker a great deal .I won't cut this until the growth begins to slow down .This will hopefully set the new buds for next year.I will cut it back to maybe 4-6 sets of leaves so the growth will hopefully be short with more shoots/branches to produced next year . This is my first Crepe Myrtle so its all trial and error . I wasn't happy cutting it back after flowering last year hence the change of tactics will hopefully produce different results , i'm hopping for shorter branches for the flowers to grown on giving a more compact canopy .

Cheers Alpine

[Jason]

Love your work Alpine!!:)

[Qitianlong]

Thanks Alpineart! I'm starring at mine and wondering what to do, they're all over the place! No form whatsoever, lovely flowers, but otherwise just crazy... so I will do like you're trying, and leave the growth for a bit... keep me updated!