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| Hi
I was wondering if Catawba crape myrtle is a good choice for a container tree in zone 10. I wanted a purple color, and bought one after reading it's a smaller variety, but after further research found it's more of a medium sized ~15 foot tree, which would be fine (the more shade the better), but I'm a little concerned because I have to keep it in a container. It came in a 5 gallon plastic pot, is about 7 feet tall, and I just transferred it into a larger ~15 gallon clay pot. I imagine in time I will have to put it in an even larger pot as well as possibly having to trim the roots, but is it even a good idea trying to keep a tree this size in a container? |
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| Well, I don't know about the Zone 10 part, but I guess as long as the pot isn't black and baking in the sun all day... I have a number of them in containers, both regular sized crapes and some of the dwarf 'Fili' series. They make wonderful container plants, very easy to grow, bloom well, can be pruned to any size since they bloom on new wood anyway, and I pretty much can't kill them other than if I don't water. I would say absolutely, yes, would make a great container specimen. |
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- Posted by formandfoliage 9b (Sunset zone 15) (My Page) on Tue, Jun 26, 12 at 8:52
| Crapes work as container plants in zone 9b! You may have to eventually pull it out and root prune it (one of ours busted its pot; that is more a statement on how crummy the pot was than anything else, but we used that opportunity to root prune before repotting in another container). Just make sure that you give it enough water. |
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| Please be sure to locate or make a very coarse bark-based potting mix. Your crape will do much better if the growing medium is very porous and fast draining. These plants take very well to root pruning, which will enable you to keep it in that 15 gallon container forever, if you like. Heck, Crapemyrtles make terrific bonsai specimens! |
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