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| I recently posted about a crape myrtle that I forgot to water all winter and now seems to be mostly dead (here's the original thread: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/trees/msg0505454130515.html )
I still haven't given up complete hope that something can be saved, and someone told me that if the roots are still alive I can try cutting the tree way back and it might send out new branches. I am sure there is a proper term for this other than amputate (perhaps 'truncate' would make sense :-) Anyway, any advice here on how best to do this? I was thinking of cutting it back to the 4 mainstems, about 2 feet high and 2 inches thick. Would that be a good idea? thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| If it sprouts, cut it back to that level. If it doesn't sprout, cut it back to the ground. Then buy a new one. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, May 31, 12 at 12:56
| just dig it up and be done with it and buy a new one.. and shall i suggest ... WATER IT ... lol it may or may not come back.. but are you willing to watch for 3 to 5 years??? on my 5 acres.. and its way out back.. sure.. i would leave it ... on a postage stamp lot.. where it would irritate me no end.. it would have been gone before i could type a post to ask ... let us know what you decide ken |
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| My suggestion would be to cut it all the way back to a six inch stump and see what happens. This is called renovation pruning and works very well with crape myrtles. |
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| If I remember correctly this crape myrtle is in a pot and spent the winter unwatered on a Swiss balcony. I really fear it is dead given the circumstances. However, you could just saw it down to a stump ca 15cm, water and hope. |
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| I too fear that your crape myrtle is probably dead. If it hasn't resprouted by now, it's probably not going to. Removing the trunks or pruning isn't going to change whether or not it's dead, and, is not going to make the roots send up new shoots if they weren't going to anyway. IF the plant is still alive (has sent up any shoots or decides to do so at this late time), leaving raised stumps will not benefit the plant at all. In fact, doing so would be a drastic form of "crape-murder" (a popular term used to describe improperly pruned crape myrtles). Your plant would be much better off if you pruned at ground level and limited sprouts to root suckers. Leaving chopped off trunks will only lead to a visual mess with weakly attached sprouts that will likely sprawl all over the place and then break off from their own weight as they grow. Techniques for developmental pruning for coppiced or stooled (the terms you may have been looking for) crape myrtles have been given in depth here in this forum multiple times. I won't repeat them here again unless you have a problem finding them, and, your tree shows signs of life, requiring such treatment. |
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| I'm not too familiar with your area of the world, but I searched southwestern Switzerland and was reminded of how terrible your winter was in 2012. I included a link to a news article. I saw online on accuweather.com, where Geneva had highs in the low 20's and lows in the lower teens for 4-5 days in a row. I don't think any crape myrtle could hold up to a winter like that...especially in a container. It could sprout back from the "ground" but there is no guarantee...especially if it was in a pot left to the elements. |
Here is a link that might be useful: european deep freeze 2/2012
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| Cutting back a live top does not make a plant more able to grow. Wait to see what it does on its own, then respond accordingly - as in cutting off any dead and leaving the live alone. |
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| jqpublic, that happens in NJ often enough and the Crape Myrtles there seem to survive OK. There aren't a ton of them, but they do grow. 20s/10s F for several days should be survivable. Most likely it was the water deficiency that whacked it, if it is completely whacked. |
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| Thanks for the great feedback everyone. I take the point that cutting back the tree is probably not going to work, and even if it does, the tree will never be the same. I also take the point that the winter might have been a factor (in addition of course to my neglect!). February was in fact really brutal where we live, with strong northern winds (called the 'Bise' (kiss) in these parts) and really cold nights. What is interesting (and the reason why I haven't been able to get myself to throw the tree away yet) is that the potted crape myrtles at our local (huge) garden center still haven't put out any leaves. I figured I would wait until they did to definitively conclude that my tree was dead. But it is now June, and they haven't done anything either. I don't remember when my leaf buds came out in past years, but this seems really late. I wonder whether the trees at the garden center were also damaged from the winter. But they would have protected theirs wouldn't they? |
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| thanks for the link jqpublic. In fact I live fairly close to where the Swiss photos were taken. The ice sculptures on the edge of Lake Geneva were truly amazing and beautiful. In fact they happen almost every year, as the result of a prolonged Bise wind. You'd think people would learn not to park their cars by the lake in the winter :-) |
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