Show us your crepe myrtles!

[Stewart_Toowoomba]

I have posted my meagre offerings of crepe myrtles and am SLOWLY learning how to treat them and seeing how they respond. However I am quickly falling in love with these trees.

It seems the younger non woody shoots are quite able to be trained, then they have a very brittle stage then with gentle effort, the larger branches can be moved with care. It's just finding the right time and thickness to do it (or not...... 'CRACK Ohh bugger!!!!') Clip and grow may be a good way to help their brittle tendencies....??

Any members feeling the same way as me? Are you willing to put yours up for our viewing pleasure? Fortunately you don't much of a comparison challenge alongside my two.....

I see them as reflecting a graceful and feminine style of tree.

Toowoomba Bonsai Group meeting this weekend - YAHOO!

One of our past presidents recently had a trip to Japan and he is going to give us a presentation of his trip - I am really excited!!

Cheers

(A big Kev excited.....) Stew

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[Kyushu Danji]

I really like the movement in your second crepe.

I am with you, I love this species. Although the branches are difficult to bend once hardened, they are extremely easy to wire when green, and they set really quickly in my experience. They also seem really hardy - they are the last species I have to show signs of stress if not watered regularly and tolerate full sun even in (this year's) mid-summer! I have had success in defoliating, and also getting the foliage to grow more vigorously in the bottom sets of branches rather than the apex through allowing sacrifice branches to grow and only partially defoliating at the top of the tree.

I will post a photo soon! I only have two, but would gladly take more.

James

PS - have you seen the autumn colour!!?

[Stewart_Toowoomba]

nope - not yet.... and our weather up here has been all over the shop too , but who's hasn't!

My ginkos have nearly all dropped their leaves but the parent is still fully green and abundant.

[Kyushu Danji]

I think you will be in for a pleasant surprise when they do colour up. Especially against the flaky bark.

[Jb1]

Hi Stewart
I would be pleased if you could give me some idea of the timing of your clip and grow protocol. What you are doing looks good. I have several plants a year or two behind you.
Regards
John

[Stewart_Toowoomba]

Hi Jb1

I have used some clip and grow on the smaller tree and this seems to get some interesting movement. My trees have had several growth spurts in the season. They do nothing for a while then in three days they'll throw leaves and branches everywhere, so you really need to watch your trees to see when they take off. The leaves respond well to reduction. I am actually reluctant to put too much wire on them for the bark is so soft and marks really easily (like in the trunk of the second tree ).

If i had the time and patience, I'd wrap up my wire in paper like the Japanese do, but alas i dont have the time or the patience with a young family. I like to use string and protect the bark with the soft green padding. It looks like a spider web at times, but the branches are not marked All the triming though kills the flowers, so you cant have your cake and eat it too ....

i am not 100% happy with the larger of my trees and may even take the whole upper section off. I need to do something with the straight mid height branch, Still being unsure, i'll keep it for now and see what next season brings out.

Cheers - post your trees anyway!

[GavinG]

This is about 648279 years old, and I didn't know what to do with it for a long time. There was the ugliest straight vertical trunk, where the scar is now, it took me a while to figure out it had to go. Ground growing will certainly thicken trunks well. Maybe buy two, one to enjoy now, one to thicken up in the ground for a few years.

I posted this on another thread, but it's worth another show - it flowered well this year, I think because I forgot to repot it, so it's a bit cramped, I pinched it back early, and then gave it heavy doses of flowering fertilizer. Because it's a bit choked, I enjoyed the flowers for a couple of weeks and then cut them off, to give it a good flush of growth to get strength for next year. Lo and behold, the damn thing put on another head of flowers! It looks a bit scrappy, because some still aren't out, and others have already dropped. It's either very happy, or it thinks it's about to die...

Clip and grow, not wired.

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Gavin

[Neli]

Gavin I like your mirtle a lot! I took a giant cutting from a bougie 6 month ago and it looks almost the same...Could not figure out where to put the the front...Now I see how! Thanks!
I vandalized it two weeks ago and chopped short any branch that had straight parts. Dont want to waste my time chopping it later. I posted it here for help, but no one answered my cry.
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[Josh]

So here is my crepe myrtle. Picked it up not long ago so haven't done anything to it yet. Not sure where to go with it. I have a large rock that I have carved out as a pot that I'm hoping this might suit.

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Any suggestions welcome.

Josh
Ps. I love these trees

[Neli]

Josh lovely tree it will make. Is the winter not around the corner in Australia or you are in warmer area. If you have cold period maybe to wait for the spring, and whenever you decide leave the bottom branch as sacrifice.

[Stewart_Toowoomba]

wow everyone

Love to see your trees and Gavin, that lovely smooth trunk line is really attractive and i certainly hope it is happy and not about to go to CM heaven. I have looed at some trees for several seasons just wondering what needed to be done to it, so i know wht you felt. Please repost next spring

Josh i'd love to see the eventual development of your CM. You've got three real vertical trunks as i see it. Do you think you'll choose one or will you try to make one a lower branch? Sure thing though that you'll get plenty of regrowth if you do go the chop!

thanks for the posting . They really do have some attractive qualities and i just love looking at them in the general community. A google images search on CM bonsai shows some amazing trees with brilliant nebari too!

Cheers

Stew

[Bretts]

Here is one I collected with Ken last spring. It was a little funny because the day was very wet and we were meant to be just doing a little picking here and there. I was wearing good shoes and trying to keep as clean as possible in the mud for the 5 hour trip home but that all went out the window when Ken showed me the Crepe Forrest. Don't think Ken has seen it potted and growing either. I had been after one for a long time so i was very happy.
Don't think the water is wasted on this one I will remove some more of the trunk soon and just let it grow again next season.

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[kcpoole]

oooh that is nice Brett

I will pull the 3 i collected out and take photos this weekend

ken

[kcpoole]

Finally got to take the pics today of the 2 i collected last year in 2 days with Brett and Coocarch.
The area I collected these from has now been cleared and is being prepped for a housing estate to be built

Ken