Home Depot Crape Myrtle

[theta]

Can't believe I found this at HD, but there it was - just waiting for me to take it home.

Just wanted to create a thread that I can update over time. Plan is to cut back the top this spring and bare root it - see what's under there and get into some better soil. Lot's of nice lower branches, but I'll have to cut back the thicker straight sections and regrow them to get better taper and movement.

I'll update as I go along.





Maybe something like this one day...

 

[bonsaidave]

Pretty nice for a big box tree. Those things grow like weeds. I would suggest removing even more of those smaller branches. Watch out for pests mine tend to get aphids.

Have fun!

 

[my nellie]

That's a decent find presenting to you a lot of choices!

 

[just.wing.it]

Cool!
Reminds me of mine!
Just getting started...

Do you know the name of it?

 

[theta]

Do you know the name of it?

Nice! what's it called?

I'm new to CM as bonsai, been hacking at them in my landscape for years though, love how vigorous they are.

 

[just.wing.it]

Nice! what's it called?

I'm new to CM as bonsai, been hacking at them in my landscape for years though, love how vigorous they are.

Oh I was asking you if you know what yours is called...
Mine is called "Purple Cow".
Purple flowers.
Edit: and mine is a semi dwarf.

 

[just.wing.it]

Here is the thread so far, https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/my-purple-cow.24267/

 

[theta]

ahh, gotcha - thought you were about to tell me a joke about it's name, haha.

Mine's a Natchez - white flowers.

 

[theta]

@just.wing.it
I just read through your other post, looks like it didn't skip a beat with the work you did.

So, you basically chopped it down, and bare rooted it within the same spring season. And if I'm counting right, you got 3 flushes of growth over the summer after each time you pruned?

This is basically the same game plan I'm going to be doing this year. I'd also like to nail it to a board, but I see how that could be an issue the first time around.

 

[Dav4]

Nice trunk and decent base from what is visible. You'll want to cut this one back much harder then what your virt shows. Check out some of the CM work of @johng .

 

[Victorim]

Nice trunk and decent base from what is visible. You'll want to cut this one back much harder then what your virt shows. Check out some of the CM work of @johng .

Was going to say this a few hours ago. Sounds much better coming from you

 

[just.wing.it]

@just.wing.it
I just read through your other post, looks like it didn't skip a beat with the work you did.

So, you basically chopped it down, and bare rooted it within the same spring season. And if I'm counting right, you got 3 flushes of growth over the summer after each time you pruned?

This is basically the same game plan I'm going to be doing this year. I'd also like to nail it to a board, but I see how that could be an issue the first time around.

Yeah, and I also agree with Dave, I almost wish I chopped mine lower...
But I still have to chew away the die back from the first cutback....then I'll be able to really get a better idea for what it looks like, and whether or not I chopped low enough.
Can always re-chop, they grow fast!

 

[defra]

Nice great find sure has a good deal of potentional

I got two way smaller ones to grow out might pick up a couple more to grow out since they are not to be found allot around here

 

[theta]

I cut back the top this morning. Some branches I left unpruned to help heal the cuts below, but I might go back in and shorten some others, they already have some basic ramification happening so I'd hate to start over.

Will be repotted as soon as I can get to it. I got caught off guard and am behind in all my repots.

 

[theta]

Started the repot today, but ran out of time to finish. I can't believe how compacted the root system was, totally underestimated how long it would take to comb out.







So I had to stop there, because I had to leave the house to go somewhere, but I want to take it down further. How much more am I safe to go? All the way to a stump underneath?

 

[theta]

Thought I'd post an update on this. So I did end up cutting this back further than what I had originally done. Probably could have cut even further in some places, but you guys were right about not cutting it enough. What sucks is since I didn't do it before bud break, so i had to wait until the first flush hardened off. So what you see here is the 2nd flush this season. Live and learn.

Wired some new shoots into place, into the general direction I want them to go. Can only get better from here.

 

[theta]

This little guy is starting to wake up! I went through and tried to improve taper wherever I could. There were a few areas that I cut back because they were too thick for the location they were on the tree. There were also a bunch of knobs on the tree from where I cut last year and I just went through and cut them down further to get a more seamless transition. There's 1 branch on the lower right where I'm hoping some buds will pop, the tip accidentally broke off, so I cut it back.

The long straight branch going off-screen to the left will probably end up cutting cut off, but not sure yet.

One on the left that is really long with nothing on it until the tips, don't have a clear plan for that one yet.



It looks uglier now, but hopefully it's a set up a little better for good taper. The branch on the lower left, coming forward is another one that is bare until the tip, but it has really good movement, hard to see it in the photo. I probably need to cut that back as well though.

This branch on the back is kind of cool. It curves back in on itself and is starting to dig in, it might even eventually fuse to the trunk there, forming a natural approach graft! It's in a perfect place on the back trunk too if that happens.

 

[theta]

Well it was labeled as a Natchez with white flowers, which I was really looking forward to... But guess what, it's not. I got purple flowers, which I'm not a huge fan of, but oh well.

So, I guess we have 2 Purple Cows on here now! @just.wing.it

 

[JefeW]

At least it wasn’t light pink, the old standard. I only want light pink ones with interesting bark. I like your tree!

 

[theta]

Is light pink the standard? I see so many white ones in the landscapes around me, more than any other color.