How to Take Care of Crape Myrtles

Crape Myrtles are a staple in many Southern gardens. Their abundance of showy, large blooms for months in summer makes them a gorgeous addition! There are many benefits of growing this beautiful tree in your garden. Today, we are sharing ideas on where to plant Crape Myrtles, as well as a guide on how to care for them in your garden.

Benefits of Growing Crape Myrtle

• Fast growing

• Stunning blooms for months

• Interesting bark as the tree matures

• Great focal point or wonderful in a grouping

• Available as both trees and shrubs, in a wide variety of sizes

• There are so many color varieties, ranging from differing shades of purple, pink, red, and white

• Many varieties offer spectacular fall foliage

• Thrives in our hot, humid summers

• Attracts pollinators

Cons of Crape Myrtle

• Can sometimes be prone to certain pests, such as aphids and bark scale

• Not native to the United States

Sunlight

• Crape Myrtles need 6+ hours/day of sunlight to perform best. They love full sun locations and flower best in full sun. Alternatively, morning shade with full afternoon sun would be beneficial for them if you do not have all-day sunlight. Anything less and they will be more susceptible to disease and won't bloom as well.

  
  

Soil

• Crape Myrtles love well-draining, fertile soil.

• Much of Middle Tennessee has some clay soil, which is not ideal for planting. Soil conditioner is an inexpensive yet effective way to amend clay soils. We offer it at the garden center, and many big-box stores also sell it. When you are digging your hole to plant your new plant, you break up the clay in the hole. Do not remove the clay, just break it into small pieces. You will then mix the soil conditioner in with the clay and continue to plant as normal. Soil conditioner works by allowing the clay to drain water, as clay holds onto water and usually promotes root rot (which we definitely don't want!).

  
  

  If you have clay in your soil, we are happy to help you determine how much soil conditioner you need for your plants. A little goes a long way.

  
  

Fertilizing

• Crape Myrtles benefit from a well-balanced fertilizer in late winter/ early spring.

Watering

• The first year, you will want to deeply water every 3-4 days when we aren't receiving adequate rainfall. Our winters are usually pretty wet in Middle Tennessee, so you probably won't need to water during this season.

  
  

Pruning Techniques

• Prune off any suckers at the base of the tree. Crape Myrtles are prone to them, but if you don't want a new stem there, prune it off so that the tree doesn't focus too much energy growing that one shoot.

• You can prune suckers at any time, but if you want to prune quite a bit off your Crape Myrtle, the best time to do so is in late winter. It puts out new blooms on new wood, so you won't be risking cutting off blooms for the upcoming season by pruning at that time. Crape Myrtles benefit from a good prune at the end of winter. It refreshes them and allows them to bloom better. We're happy to answer specific pruning questions at the nursery.

Pest and Disease Management

• As we mentioned above, Crape Myrtles can be especially susceptible to aphids and bark scale. Depending on what pest it is, we ask that you call us, and we will recommend specifically what to use. Below, we have linked several sources to learn more about each.

- Aphids

-Bark Scale

-Powdery Mildew

Where to Plant

• Anywhere they can have full sun, Crape Myrtles look especially lovely as an addition to a mass planting, in a gardening bed at the corner of a house, as a focal point in a gardening bed, or included in a privacy screen that has a mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees. We do not recommend planting them near a pool, as their blooms are made up of tiny flowers that can consistently blow/fall into the pool.

  
  

  Enjoy their blooms for months and the interest of their bark year-round. Ask us questions at the nursery; we hope to see you soon!