Preparing for Old Age

[gja1000]

Originally Posted by Tiramisu

Does anybody have crete myrtles? They look fairly low maintenance. I've been watching some in my neighborhood and around town. Looks like you can keep them short or let them grow taller. I might put a few of those across the very back of our two little acres.

I live in Austin and yes, I have crepe myrtles. They are extremely low maintenance. Be sure to buy plants that are appropriate for your area. Sometimes the chain stores will get plants that are not suited to our hot summers. Also, there are different kinds of crepe myrtles. Some get as big as small trees, and they cannot be kept trimmed down. Some are low growing, they are minis. Some are rounded on top and some just grow straight up. Some are resistant to powdery mildrew (THAT is the kind you want). I would go to a long time local nursery to get the kind that is appropriate for your exact area.

They are absolutely gorgeous plants that do so well in central and south Texas. We put ours in years ago, and didn't have a clue about which ones to buy. Ours grow straight up, very tall and they are not the prettiest. We also put in some small ones around the base and they are cute. This year we trimmed off the leaves on the bottom half of the trunks and they look a little better. I've attached a picture. Look at the right corner (as you look at the pic) of the house and you'll see a tall one with some smaller ones at the base.

Oh, and you really shouldn't trim them back hard - as you probably see around in the neighborhood. In the early spring, you should only tip off the old bloom pods and you don't even have to do that. As you can see, mine are far too tall to trim off the ends.

Good luck!