Question
My 2 crepe myrtles planted 16 months ago have brown edges on the leaves but the middle of the leaf is still dark green, the brown edges are spreading to other branches.  We are in Dallas Texas and have been watering with our sprinkler system daily for 5 mins and every few days water with a hand hose.  Doesn't look like sooty mildew so don't know what to spray them with.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer
Dear Lynn, I am actually about 150 miles from you and I have the same weather, so I definitely know what is going on with your crape myrtles.  This has been either the worst or second worst drought in our history, and the temperature has been well over 100 for almost two months, so everything is suffering badly from the lack of rain.  I would increase the water time on the sprinkler to 15 minutes every two days or 20 minutes every three days in order to water the plants more deeply.  In addition I would give them an additional deep watering (1/2 hour with the hose on half strength) to help them out.  Regardless of the outcome, don't worry, fall is almost here and the leaves will soon be dropping.  The crape myrtles should be fine next year.  They definitely don't have a disease; I have seen dozens of cases of this happening to crape myrtles this year.  Good luck, keep up the watering, and let's hope for rain.  Melissa