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rofo_gw

Crepe Myrtle help

rofo
10 years ago

Hi, I've frequented this site for 2 years and have gained a wealth of information, so I'd like to thank you all for contributing to this awesome resource! I've searched and searched but haven't found the guidance I need for this particular issue.

I bough 4 varieties of crepe myrtle for next to nothing late last summer from a big box store. They were on their last leg so I left them in their pots and nursed them for the next several months; all were healthy by "fall". However, I did not protect them this winter and we had a few uncharacteristic hard freezes, getting down to 20 degrees one night. Warm weather has started now and I'm pretty sure I've done everything wrong since then.

I started watering the pots a couple weeks ago and as I amended other parts of gardens with worm castings, epson salts, a light compost tea and (I SO dread admitting this because I know better), a very light application of a granular all purpose "Master Gardener" fertilizer, I would give the potted trees a tiny dose of each. I just did a scratch test (have been too scared up until now) and the bottom portions of trunks show green but the top half-3/4 are dead. I should cut the dead tops off, right? Should I flush the soil? I want to put them in the ground this year as well. Would this be the right time or should I wait?

Thanks in advance for your input!

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