Question
Jim,

I need some help on two different ornamental trees I have in my yard.
We live Texas north of Dallas.

The first is a crepe myrtle.
I have 15 of these in a line across the front of my yard.
These vary in height between 5 and 7 ft tall and have been very healthy since we planted them about 7 years ago.
About 3 weeks ago, I noticed that one of them seemed to have less foliage than the others.
I have examined this tree, and found no bugs or powder or anything that I can see.  Comparing it with the other trees, I cannot tell any difference in them.  Now I have another one of these trees doing the same thing.  This one is on the far end of the line of trees.
The leave are starting to turn because of fall, but I have not noticed anything chewing on the leaves.
Any help on this would be very much appreciated.

The other problem I am having is with an ornamental pine.
This is planted in a flower bed close to the house.  I have one on each side of my sidewalk on each side of the front door.  The one on the left is not as green as the other and seems to be loosing its pine needles. It may be that it is too wet, but I don't think so.

If you have any suggestions, I would appreciate.

Thank you,

Rick McMullan

Answer
I would recommend that you fertilize the crept myrtle.
A complete general-purpose garden fertilizer -- such as 8-8-8, 10-10-10, 12-4-8 or 16-4-8 -- is ideal for crape myrtle. I would use 1 lb of 10-10-10 per diameter of the trunk and scatter the fertilize around the tree. The best time to fertilize is just before a rain. Otherwise, water in the fertilizer after application with irrigation. It is not necessary to remove mulch when fertilizing. Fertilize now and again in the spring and again in mid summer. make sure you do not use a lawn fertilize called Weed and Feed it contains a herbicide that can kill the trees.

Not real sure about the pine--not enough information to go by. If the growing conditions are the same for both pines and one is not as green I would fertilize it also but use about a hand full of 10-10-10 and water in.