Although I'd seldom try a "belt thing" on a split tree or shrub, it's hard to know what should be done without a picture or two.

If everything looks alive, go for it, what have you got to lose. I did this to a large shrub several years ago and everything turned out great.

nonsense ...

i dont do CM.. but anything of that size.. is not going to heal .. sufficient enough to support what is above ...

and come the first wind storm.. thundershower.. etc.. it is going to fail again.. and again ...

its a flowering shrub.. prune it to within 3 inches of the ground.. and watch if grow 5 feet this year.. as it had no insult to its root mass ... [depending where the split is .. a pic would be worth a couple million more words]

plants like this can heal a bark wound .. or a proper prune.. but really now.. those types of cuts do not involve holding up weight in any sense of the word ...

i mean really now.. using the belt to your pants .... if that worked.. we would have many nurserymen walking around with their pants at their ankles.. lol

do it the right way.. HOPE is not really involved here ..

i suppose.. you can do it the right way.. next time it fails.. and at that point.. you can pull your pants back up ... and keep them where they belong ...

Here is a link that might be useful: how to post pix

Here is a picture of it. I checked it again this morning when I took the picture. I tried to see if i could get to merge, but it would take a Samson to do so ( lol i just saw this old movie ). The lower part was too heavy, so I cut it off..but now I am left with an exposed cut. Any ideas to prevent bacteria of some kind entering it? As for the offer of cutting a 20' foot shrub to 3" and watch it grow again, i hope you were not serious.

{{gwi:251101}}

Anything that was going to 'enter' the wound already did so long ago. The practice of applying anything to prevent infection has long been discarded into the file called "things we used to do but know better now".

noooo

i wasnt kidding ...

its not the best picture.. but i see multiple trunks..
and in my world .. i would cut the broken one off as close to the ground as i could ..

or back to a proper pruning point .. which is not seen in that small picture ...

ken

So then judging by Rhizo's comment 'any bacteria by now has entered the wound"...so I should just leave the wound alone? Isn't there something i could put on it to discourage more problems? I read denatured alcohol may work?

Booth bay, I had the same kind of damage done to one of my Dynamite Red Crapes from the october snowstorm. I removed it from the ground before it started to leaf out--thinking it was a goner, but now it seems to be just fine in a container and I assume it'll repair the damage over this growing season. I think your tree will be fine.

The wound will continue to get worse as the plant grows. Growth will produce more weight, and the split will continue to open up more until the limb rests on something (another limb, etc). As the wound is expanded, new opportunities occur for pathogens to enter. Also, rot will eventually begin to deteriorate the exposed area. The plant will never be able to close this mess up satisfactorily, and significant rot will set in long before it had a chance anyway.

As previously stated, sealant/tree-goop/denatured alcohol/cheese whiz will do nothing to help the problem and may well be contraindicated. The one possible exception is liquid copper fungicide (discussed in the Tree Forum many times before), but even that is not really going to be a great solution to this problem.

Cutting the plant back to ground level and letting it resprout will work, but aftercare can be relatively significant. Crapes often regrow rapidly and the growth tends to be floppy. It's highly likely you'd need to support the new growth until it reaches a size that can be self-supporting. Pantyhose can actually work well for this. Also, you will need to choose the number of trunks you want to end up with and keep the additional root sprouts removed. Ripping the very young sprouts off of the root system/stump is preferred to pruning (which encourages more growth).

If this were mine, I'd probably either just leave it and see what happens (I mean it's not like a huge tree that could fall apart and cause mass devastation) or prune it back to a decent size lateral branch (drop-crotch pruning/reduction pruning/etc). A good overall picture might change my mind, but that's my ideas at this point.

Brandon, thanks but I did cut off the branch that was split from the trunk...it was almost impossible to merge them...and heavy. I decided to let it be...and let nature take its course.

I'm new to this site and decided to join so I can tell you about my split Crape Myrtle. My tree about 3 years old (still a baby) broke in 1/2 due to high winds. My heart sank when I saw it completely broken in 1/2 at the base of the trunk. I immediately asked my husband to come outside and help. I thought the tree was gone. There was only about 4" inches left from the trunk. My husband's quick thinking saved the tree. He told me and my sons to pull the tree up immediately and to hold it steady so we can re-attach it. While we did this and winds of about 50-60 miles per hour were pounding on us, he went to grab a thin piece of cotton cloth and spread clean dirt on it, he then dampen it. He placed that around the broken part of the tree and wrapped it like a bandaid. We ended securing the tree with posts so it would not move. This happened 2 months ago. As of today the tree is doing great. The leaves have not shown signs of wilting and the tree is looking healthy. I can't believe this is working. The tree still has the bandaid around it. I do not intend to remove it until it is time. I think this is "grafting". I am just thankful I didn't lose my tree. I had to share since the tree literally broke in 1/2 at the base and grafting saved it.

Chispa,

There are a couple of things to note about your graft. First, if the tree was very large, the graft will be a weak spot in the tree for a very long time. The wood will never ever grow back together. If the graft is successful, new wood will eventually grow around the break and hopefully provide enough support. However, since you have that weak spot forever (in the interior of the branch/trunk), future damage is likely to occur at that same location.

A second thing, is the use of "clean dirt" for your "bandaid". Your tree would have been far better off without the dirt. Dirt provides no benefit, but could introduce pathogens into the exposed area. Just as your wouldn't rub dirt into a cut on your arm, it's a very very bad idea to use dirt for a tree "bandaid". I have seen this old-school practice before, but it is definitely not advisable!

Good luck with your crape. It is kind of neat that you were able to perform a seemingly successful graft in the middle of a storm!

I had a 15' CM get knocked over from a bad summer storm while it was in full bloom. There was nothing left to it but the root mass.
The following year it exploded with new growth. It took 2 years to flower. After 5 years its stunning.
No matter what, you won't kill it. It's very resilient.

My crape myrtle tree is still standing and is producing beautiful long deep pink blooms. I removed the "dirt bandaid" and now just have it wrapped with a nylon stocking. Very resilient trees.