I don't overwater mine and I rather hate pruning as an activity so mine
rarely get too much of either so don't expect me to push the nubby-look
viewpoint.

In Austin, when the plants go dormant in July and August, like most plants,
the Crapes quit growing and that includes new leaves and new flowers. Unless
you water them every day. I worked in a home-office of a rich fellow that
had his sprinkler system set just to water the Crapes every day even though
it was illegal (water rationing and all) (it was legal to water them by hand
each day, but Lord forbid that he would lift a hand! :) Him and his rich
neighbors had the most beautiful Crapes while mine in south Austin (as you
say, in MUCH better soil) got a little bare since I was doing the "water
once a week just to keep the St Augustine from dying". They still had
flowers mind you; they were just old and getting a bit crispy. Don't have
that problem here in Houston; everything grows just about all year long. (Oh
how I long for the dog days of summer where I only had to mow every other
week! Try 4-6 days here for a 'kept' look...)

As far as pruning, the OP said he wanted trees. The growth habit of Crapes
is more like Yaupon, Waxleaf Ligustrum or even Red Tipped Photinia. One huge
bush. Beautiful, especially when covered in bright pink flowers! The best
ones I've seen were just north of Columbus on an old farmstead fenceline:
easilly 25 feet tall and 20 feet around. No pruning, No watering. And who
knows how old. Back to pruning: they throw up so many suckers and they
back-bud so easilly, to keep a tree shape (by that I mean "one or more
trunks several inches thick and are visible") does take work and constant
attention. The suckers alone rob the entire upper portion of the tree of the
nutrients that would be going into the flowers which are now going into a
new sucker and ANOTHER trunk. And, yeah, once they get big, that
oh-so-natural nub look will have you looking into electric saws.

Wish I had a fence line to plant some on now.

Oh, and let's tell him about making babies. I keep left-over 6" or 1 gallon
pots, fill with whatever dirt or soil happens to be handy, and if I cut off
a nice shoot or branch, say pencil thick and two feet long, I stick a couple
in these pots then put them somewhere they will get watered with my other
plants. Next year, free Crapes! No muss, no fuss, no rooting hormone...just
stab them in. They are like Ficus around my house...pots of cuttings
everywhere!

John
in Houston


"escape" wrote in message
...
West Lake Hills is on one to four inches of soil, at the most. It is
mostly
limestone, caliche and other aggregates. In those instances, I would not
select
a Crape myrtle. I would have a whole different idea in mind. Then there
are
areas like mine where I have a minimum of 3 feet of soil before I hit
caliche.
I found that out when I dug the pool.

So, your "upkeep required" is what I took the liberty of correcting.
People DO
make the mistake of pruning to nubs the limbs of Crape's, but it is wholly
unnecessary, as you can see by the beautiful specimens outside the Barton
Springs Exhibit building by the pool. Magnificent muscles on those trees.
They
do not get that large if you prune them.

That's all I was saying.


On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 17:45:54 GMT, "Tex John" opined:

I said that. But you have way fewer flowers in the Summer if you don't
water
them a lot. A trip through West Lake Hills in August is proof of that!

John


"escape" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 18:48:51 GMT, "Tex John"
opined:

The upkeep required on keeping Crapes in tree form is quite a chore,
too.
And to get lots of flowers in the summer in Austin, you need to water
them
every day.

This is a myth. They do not require any pruning, ever. They are
drought
resistant and can withstand a great period without water if mulched
after
spring
rains. They are over watered if you water every day.

However, if you are looking for screening rather than trees, they do
make
very colorful and tall bushes! And you don't have to water them at all
once
they are established...but at least a weekly dousing gave me some
color.

John


"escape" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 16:32:33 GMT, "John Baker"
opined:

I am planning on planting some flowering trees along a fence line.
About
seven of them. I was thinking of crepe myrtles. I heard they can
grow
fast.

I was also thinking about planting some fruit trees along another
fence
line. I was wondering if anyone has some good suggestions as to
what
fruits
grow well in Austin area.

Any ideas would be great. I'm not stuck on the crepe myrtles...i
just
want
some color and something that can grow higher than a 6 foot fence.

Thanks,
John


Fruit trees require pruning and maintenance, which is well worth it.
I
have a
'Dixieland' peach tree. It has very low chill hour requirements
(400),
so
it
does well here and after three years I had a crop of 15 bushels last
summer.
Delicious fruit, but you do have to prune.

Low chill hours means that, the temperature of 45 degrees or less
has
to
last
for at least the recommended amount of chill hours. So, in other
words,
my
tree
variety of 'Dixieland' requires 400 hours of temperatures below or
at
45
degrees
in order to set fruit.

I like Crepe myrtles, but they are not evergreen if you want a
screen.
With
fruit, you get to eat what you grow, so I would direct you in that
way,
but you
may not want the upkeep required.





Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a
friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html







Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a
friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html







Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html