Crepemyrtle need ideas!!

[deb789]

I need some ideas and plants to put on my 2 crepemrtle trees. I have they are bare on the bottom and need some colorful plants. It gets full sun 10 hours. Some colorful plants that will last till fall if possible. My 2nd question is how to make a bed for my crepe, cause im going to add the plants. I need the basics on how to prepare a bed?Do i use a spade to dig the grass? How much to dig off the grass. Do i use some kind of weedkiller for the weeds, or newspaper etc. Any ideas on how to prepare for my garden bed? I want to make a perfect circle around my crepemyrtle tree to start. Heres my picture of my crepemyrtle. go to http://community.webshots.com/user/deb789

 

[amid chaos]

deb...welcome to the DIS and to the flower and garden board.

As for prepping your new garden...you could dig and turn the soil, remove the grass and add in some loam and compost, cover in mulch. You could plant this immediatly.
Or you could use a layer of newspaper and put the loam and compost on top, cover in mulch...this needs to be left alone a season or more to kill the grass underneath.

As for planting...annuals are great because they are immediate color and most last a season. Perennials rarely bloom a whole season but are beautiful during their blooming period and come back year after year. maybe a combination of the two would be your answer.

 

[amid chaos]

I just noticed you were from Texas...I'm not sure what plants are tough and will survive 10 hours in the texas sun because I'm from the north..sorry, I can't be off much help there.

 

[mommytotwo]

How about some marigolds or false heather plants?

Welcome to the board

 

[Snowwark]

Welcome Deb!

Deb, I don't know diddly about Crape Myrtles, but I was wondering if other gardeners in your neighbourhood have them also? You might want to take a look and see how they've handled them. I have read that CM are often used on their own, as specimen plants, or in a grouping to act as a pretty screening/fence type planting. Some people are recluctant to cultivate too closely or heavily under them, for fear of damaging their roots. That's why I suggest peeking around the neighbourhood.

If you decide to leave it on it's own, increasing the diameter of the circle underneath them would be a good idea. Adding a couple of inches of organic material (wood chips, pine needles, shredded bark, et.) will give a more finished look, discourage weeds, and help keep the soil moist.

If you follow the bed making method Amid Chaos described( the newspaper one), you might want to move it out (away from the CM trunk), possibly starting at the drip line. This will give you a slightly raised bed, which is good, plus you wouldn't be disturbing any roots.

Of course, these are suggestions only. You could also check with a local garden centre or nursery.


It would be great if one of our Buds had some Crape Myrtles...and could tell us what they've done!

 

[drdelsol]

I have them, but I've never planted around the bases. I try to keep the new growth off the trunks for more tree like growth. I like the look of the bare trunks, but that is a personal opinion.

That said, you might want to consider a raised or at least a partially raised bed. If you dig around them it's pretty easy to hit roots near the surface. Cut through one of a decent size and you can end up with a new crepe myrtle growing from the cut root up through your flower bed.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Your tree looks healthy and ready to take off! My mom has one in Cape May NJ, planted 6 years ago, and it's double in size since then. Our neighbors in CM have one that has also doubled in size in 6 years, and it now shades our laundry line and reaches to the top of the second floor of the building, so stand aside and watch it take off!

I'm heading for Cape May later this week. There are lots of crape myrtles planted there, and I will look around to see what others have done at their bases. Both my mother and my neighbor just have mulch, although my neighbor has a very nice ornamental planter box at the base.

Bobbi

 

[nativetxn]

In February you might want to take off the axillary branches from that crepe myrtle and it should bloom like crazy by May.

That's what we do in East Texas, anyway.

 

[drdelsol]

Had another thought. Impatiens take heat pretty well and you could probably match them to the bloom color of the crepe myrtles fairly well.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm in Cape May and I've been looking around, and so far, I haven't seen anything planted beneath them. They are beautiful this year, lots of blooms.

Bobbi

 

[chessie]

I have been watching this thread because I have been thinking of planting a crepe myrtle. My mother's neighbor has one and babies keep coming up in my mother's shrub border. I have 2 very different places in mind to plant it. I have also been paying attention when I see one, but I haven't noticed any plantings under them. They are beautiful by themselves. Since they bloom on new growth, the more you prune them the more they bloom.

 

[Tulirose]

I am totally unfamiliar with this bush; or is it a tree?

Deb - Your crepe myrtle looks great. As far as clearing the area underneath it. I wouldn't use any weedkillers for fear of hurting the tree (or is it a bush) too. The quickest, but not the easiest way, would be to remove the grass with a spade shovel.

Click Here for info I found about removing established grass for a garden. Again, because you are leaving a live plant in the area, I wouldn't recommend weedkiller as they do. They do talk about how to manually remove the grass with a sharp spade.

I read other places that recomended newspaper or plastic to smother grass but I personally think digging it out would be best. JMO

Good luck and let us peek in on your progress now and again.

 

[DebºoºS]

Is this Crepe Myrtle? I wasn't sure what it was so I took some pics of it. The university had walks lined with them. So lovely. I didn't notice any underplantings. They can get quite large.
<img height=232 width=226 src="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid136/p90547bc0fc9d62b61f08172d7962b80a/f75237e0.jpg"<img height=232 width=226 src="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid136/p9a9de47a799cbeabc1cd564cfcb1a81f/f752394d.jpg"
This was one of many trees at the hotel in TN Anxious to try it here.