Can anyone tell me how vigourous are the roots
of the Crepe Myrtle?
Have one in the garden close to the house.(20 yrs)
Never let it get much higher than the eaves.
Brutally cut it back some years.
Now the wife wants to rip it out because she is
worried about the roots damaging the house.

Any thoughts appreciated ..Ian

Ian wrote:
Can anyone tell me how vigourous are the roots
of the Crepe Myrtle?
Have one in the garden close to the house.(20 yrs)
Never let it get much higher than the eaves.
Brutally cut it back some years.
Now the wife wants to rip it out because she is
worried about the roots damaging the house.

Any thoughts appreciated ..Ian


I've never known crepe myrtle roots to damage anything, but we were
still pulling up suckers ten years after cutting out crepe myrtles.
They're pretty hard to get rid of, IMHO, and you absolutely must get
every skerrick of root out if you don't want to be revisited later.

--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Sorry to crash the thread, but can crepe myrtles be kept in pots? We
have a lovely pot that is currently vacant and a crepe myrtle (or
"pride of India" as my grandmother used to call them) would look
lovely in it.

Ta,
Tish

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:56:36 -0800 (PST), Tish wrote:

Sorry to crash the thread, but can crepe myrtles be kept in pots? We
have a lovely pot that is currently vacant and a crepe myrtle (or
"pride of India" as my grandmother used to call them) would look
lovely in it.

No problem in pots for 5-6 years. Then they really would like to be planted out or bonsai treatment

g'day ian,

they send their roots far and wide looking for moisture but never
heard them doing any structural damage, though in drought times you
don't want any tree taking moisture from the soil around your
foundations. that could cause problems.

now as lovley as the crepes are never disturb their roots or you will
be inundated with sucker growths forever. would suggest if you are
going to remove one of them you would need to poison the tree and make
sure it is totally dead before removal takes place.



On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 01:22:46 GMT, Ian wrote:
snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

I agree with what Len says. We have one down the back and just a pitchfork
is enough to get the suckers coming up. Whipper snipper loves them.
Jock
"len garden" wrote in message
...
| g'day ian,
|
| they send their roots far and wide looking for moisture but never
| heard them doing any structural damage, though in drought times you
| don't want any tree taking moisture from the soil around your
| foundations. that could cause problems.
|
| now as lovley as the crepes are never disturb their roots or you will
| be inundated with sucker growths forever. would suggest if you are
| going to remove one of them you would need to poison the tree and make
| sure it is totally dead before removal takes place.
|
|
|
| On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 01:22:46 GMT, Ian wrote:
| snipped
| With peace and brightest of blessings,
|
| len & bev
|
| --
| "Be Content With What You Have And
| May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
| A World That You May Not Understand."
|
| http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:22:59 GMT, len garden
wrote:

g'day ian,

they send their roots far and wide looking for moisture but never
heard them doing any structural damage, though in drought times you
don't want any tree taking moisture from the soil around your
foundations. that could cause problems.

now as lovley as the crepes are never disturb their roots or you will
be inundated with sucker growths forever. would suggest if you are
going to remove one of them you would need to poison the tree and make
sure it is totally dead before removal takes place.



On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 01:22:46 GMT, Ian wrote:
snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

Thank you all for your replies.
Will leave it where it is for the time being ....Ian