Question

Trunk   QUESTION: My Crape Myrtle's trunks have a bumpy surface instead of a smooth one.  I purchased the tree about 1.5 years ago.  It's over 13 feet tall.  It didn't flower last summer.  This year it hasn't started flowering and it's leaves are not as dark green as the other ones in the area.  Also, it doesn't have as many leaves as others in the area.  I'm concerned it has some disease.  Can I treat it or will it die?  It was pretty expensive.  The nursery planted it for me.

ANSWER: Dear Betty, First let me address your trunk issue.  The bumpy bark is a pretty good sign of gall, which is a mass of affected wood tissue that houses a type of tiny wasp.  These are basically benign, although I see them a lot lately, and I do think they detract from the looks of the tree.  The best thing to do is to rub your bark smooth, which you can do with your gloved hand or perhaps with a rag to remove any loose bark areas which can create hiding places for various insects.  You can also spray the bark with NEEM, an organic chemical which kills insects, mites and fungus.  I generally just paint it on the bark and it does help somewhat, although you will always have a slightly bumpy bark.  Some of that is natural and just gives the bark character and you don't have much bump at all although I notice a few loose areas.  I find it more pronounced on heavily pruned crapes at the point where they have been repeatedly cut back.  So this isn't really much of a problem.  What I am very concerned about however, is that you have a crape myrtle which didn't flower last year.  That is very worrisome, and there are not many things that would cause that.  These are the main things that would cause this problem.  First when the tree was planted, was it planted at the same depth that it was in the nursery, or did the nursery plant it deeper?  Planting it deeper is a serious mistake, one that a reputable nurseryman would never make and in that case it would be the nursery's fault.  The next thing would be the location it is planted in.  Is the tree planted in full sun, or at least 6 (preferably more# hours of sunlight?  If it is planted in a shady location that is absolutely the nursery's fault.  Now as far as when the tree flowers and the color of the leaves, all crape myrtles have different color leaves and generally all crapes of the same type will have the same color leaves and come out at the same time.  However if you have a Natchez white crape and the other Natchez trees have a darker colored leaf then I think you do have something wrong with your tree as far as color.  Have you fertilized it?  They are not heavy feeders, but that may help.  Also if your tree has black sooty leaves or if they are covered with a powdery white color, then that could indicate scale or powdery mildew, in which case you should spray with a lightweight horticultural oil #Sunspray is a good one) or biorganic oil.  Spray several times about a week apart and they should improve greatly.  So smooth out the bark for mostly cosmetic purposes, check for planting depth or planting in shade which would be the nursery's fault, and check for scale residue or powdery mildew and treat that with oil.  Now if all these turn up negative, although I suspect that one or two of them will be the main culprits, I would call the nursery to take a look at the tree.  I also live in Texas and have grown up with crape myrtles, and you generally have to do something quite severe to make them not bloom.  Oh, one last thing: in light of last year's drought, is the tree being watered often enough?  Last year you would have needed to water it at least twice a week, despite the fact that when well established they rarely need water.  I mentioned that last since I would assume you would also have seen a lot of leaf drop.  Stressed trees won't flower until the stress period is over.  I hope this information helps.  Write back if you have further questions.  Melissa

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Melissa,

Thank you so much for your prompt and helpful answer.  As far as the planting of the tree, it was in a pot.  It's planted above the surface (about six inches).  It receives plenty of sun.  I don't see any scale or powdery mildew.  Sure enough, it was an extremely hot summer last year but I kept it watered.  It did drop it's leaves before the other crape myrtles in the area.  It's flowers are lavender.  I just wrote to the Nursery were I bought it and they said it was fine, just needs some time to develop root system.  They also recommended I went to the nursery to get maxi crop and hort epsom salt.  Also, I justed noticed about three leaves that are red/orangnish.  I did fertilize it in the spring. I appreciate your assistance in caring/saving my crape myrtle.

Thank you for all your help,

Betty

Answer
Dear Betty, Thank you for your follow up letter.  It should get better this year.  If you need to help out the roots, water in some root stimulator - that is what we always used when planting new trees for customers.  The few red leaves are no big deal, but that just lets you know what color the leaves turn in fall.  I have noticed that the lavender ones flower later than a lot of the others.  When it blooms, you can increase its blooming by breaking off the old bloom stalks after flowering and it often makes the plants bloom longer into the summer.  Please feel free to write me anytime about any plant.  I can't remember where I put my car keys, but I seem to remember everything about every plant I've ever seen.  Good luck, Melissa