Question
There's a bad place, 8-10 inches round, on my crape myrtle tree that looks like a big wart. It's a beautiful, heathy looking tree.  Is this something I should be treating?

Answer
Sounds like a bacteria gall. There is really nothing that you can treat it with. About the only thing to do is continue to keep the tree growing healthy by fertilizing the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. If the gall encloses the trunk it may weaken the trunk causing the tree to break during a wind storm. Keeping it healthy will lessen the growth of the gall by the tree out growing the diameter. Cutting it off will not help and it may increase the growth of the gall.