| Hi, all,
I am a new poster although I have read and used this site for a few years. I live in Marrero, LA, a suburb of New Orleans. I have 6 crepe myrtles in my yard.
Last year, the four trees in the front (pink blooms) had almost no blooms all spring/summer. The 2 in the back (white) bloomed well.
This year, none of the crepe myrtles have blooms or buds yet. Many trees in this area are blooming heavily already, and the rest are full of buds.
All of the trees are probably at least 10-12 feet tall.
The foliage on all the trees appears healthy and full, and I don't see obvious signs of disease or infestation, except for lichen on 2 of the trees' trunks. I was advised that lichen is not harmful to the plants, so I haven't removed it.
I do not prune the trees back to the trunks the way many people do. I was advised that this was not good for the plants, and I don't like the look. I do remove low branches on the trees in the front to provide a more formal multitrunked tree look. The plants in the back are allowed to grow relatively freely--really as large shrubs.
The pink trees in the front were installed about 6 years ago, and the white ones in the back were installed about 2-3 years ago. They were all fairly mature when planted. All of the trees bloomed well until 1-2years ago.
They are watered regularly by my irrigation system. Two of the front trees are in an area of suboptimal drainage (which has been improved recently), but the rest are in well drained areas.
The ones in the front are in raised beds with Sago palms, shrubs, and annual flowers, all of which are looking well. The ones in the back are planted individually in the lawn.
They are all in areas of full sun. All are mulched with pine needles--I don't allow them to get too close to the trunks, though.
None of the trees were significantly damaged by recent huricanes or storms . The 4 older trees in the front were stressed by draught before the irrigation system was installed 4 years ago, but they seemed to recover and bloom well once the watering was managed. One of the trees was damaged by a weed wacker 3-4 years ago. Those wounds look well healed now. I fired that gardener.
As you can see by this long message, I have been trying hard to determine what the problem could be. Although the trees are attractive without blooms, they would be fantastic with blooms, of course.
Can anyone think of anything that I might have missed? The trees are all fertilized in the early spring or late winter. Do they need more at this point? Could a soil test help?
What could cause healthy looking trees not to bloom?
Thanks
Rocky | 
