Hi there, I have two crepe myrtles that initially did not receive water for an extended period. After deep watering them, we noticed that new leaves were growing, as well as branches at the very bottom of the tree (which we trimmed off). However, until recently we had not seen any flowers on the tree for the last year when we purchased the house and moved in. We now have two beautiful flowers but were wondering how we can encourage flowering of the entire tree. It has not been pruned in at least a year and the dead flower buds are still on the tree. In addition, would it make sense for us to trim the tree gently? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers and have a wonderful day! Stefan Crepe Myrtle ( photo / image / picture from soriold's Garden ) Crepe Myrtle 2 ( photo / image / picture from soriold's Garden )
Just keep watering it. Dead head the flowers, and I wouldn't trim it anymore for a while. Don't let it get dry again. These plants have such a great will to live. It will do just fine.
My first concern is how close it appears to be to those power lines. If they are really that close... they'll have to be continually pruned away from them. They are pretty tough, but some people prune them back so much it's called "Crepe Murder". Just do an online search and you'll see what I'm talking about. They flourish here all on their own... just an occasional watering when it's super duper dry. We just let them do their own thing and enjoy months and months of beautiful care-free blooms. Hopefully someone will come along with experience in growing these in your part of the world.
