About 3 weeks ago, my husband planted 9 Muskogee Crape Myrtles that were healthy and 5-6ft tall each. We have a few of these already but read the tag anyway. It states, "Keep watered until well established". Granted, we live in Texas where it has been over 100 degrees for the past 5+ weeks. We water very well every morning and evening (7am and 9pm respectively). However, we are still waiting for 'well established'. I am very frustrated. We use a hose and sprinkler focused on just the trees and run the water 15-40 min per tree. Three of them have dried leaves all over. Three are okay, and the other three are doing great. What are we doing wrong and what else can we do? The other Muskogee trees were planted in the Spring years ago and Mother Nature took care of them for us. Now, with daily triple digits and a serious drought, it appears to be a losing battle. Please help. :!:
Hello and welcome to the Stew. We are in central Texas, and I understand completely about the heat and drought. Planting anything in June in Texas isn't the best idea. However, your trees are in and you are taking care of them. "Completely established" for a tree can be a year, or at least 6 months. May I suggest that you forget the sprinkler--a lot of water lost to evaporation and it is shallow watering at best. Instead, run the hose to the base of the tree and let water trickle for a half hour per tree once a day, preferably in the evening. This will water deeply, helping the roots get a good drink. If the myrtles are short enough, can you rig up some shade? Even draping shade cloth directly over the tree will help, especially the ones with dried leaves. Who sold you trees to be planted in June? I wouldn't trust that nursery again.
They don't like to be waterlogged, so cut back the watering to once a day. You can also get a tree root watering device that attaches to the hose, you jam the pointy end down into the ground several inches away from the trunk of the tree and turn the water on for about 30 minutes at a trickle. That way the water is down at the roots and will encourage them to grow down instead of staying at the soil surface. To test soil moisture, take a trowel and stab it into the soil about 6 inches deep and a few inches away from the tree. Pry it back and stick you hand down in the hole to feel the soil. If it's moist, then don't water but if dry then do. If you have black clay it will retain the moisture and can cause root rot.
I'd suggesting soaking the trees... not using a sprinkler because if the water hits the leaves while the sun is out, it could burn them. Then I'd cut back on the watering to once a day, preferably early morning.
Thank you both. I will have my husband test the soil to see if it's moist. Viewing the leaves, they appear to be dried out due to lack of water/moisture. They are not burned. We started off letting the hose soak the trees at the soil line but after a week, the leaves were drying out. That's why we switched to the sprinkler that attaches to the hose. Thanks again. I'll let you know the results of the soil test in a few hours when he gets home from work. Sorry, I missed the first reply. We got them at The Plant Shed. I think they sell anything and everything year-round. Living in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, our earth soil contains a lot of rock and clay but while digging the holes, there were worms which is often a sign of good soil and we didn't hit rocks or clay. I'm so glad I found this site and joined! I wish I knew about it when I was struggling last year with my beloved Majesty Palms. Thank you all for the replies and the welcome.
The earth is moist. We have changed our watering routine to just late evenings. We really don't know what else to do but there hadn't been a single bit of improvement from 6am yesterday (and watering) to checking at 6pm last night. The trees and leaves looked exactly the same. The thing I forgot to mention is the position of the good trees from the not-so-good trees. ( photo / image / picture from DLO's Garden ) This is just one of the 4 pictures I took of the 9 trees.
Hi DLO and welcome to the stew! You might want to try and anti-transpirant(sp?) on the shrubs, It is a liquid spray that reduces the loss of moisture from the leaves, due to the heat. try it on one first and see if it helps. It is used at transplant time on vegetable to reduce the shock and helps transition them to the field. Or toss some sheets or screening around or over them to shade them some.
There won't be an immediate change, it will take time. The tree might lose those leaves too but as long as the limbs are still green on the inside the tree is alive and recuperating. And when it recovers from the stress it will start putting out new leaves. Burned leaves would be from sun scorch. Leaves on a plant or tree suffering from too much water look exactly like leaves on a plant or tree suffering from lack of water. Most people will first think it needs more water and water even more but the poor tree is drowning. I would hold off on watering for a few days, do the 'trowel in the soil and stick you hand in the hole' test every evening and don't start watering again until it is dry again. Then test every day before automatically watering so it doesn't get waterlogged again.
Wow! Thanks Carolyn and Toni! Very good information you've both provided! I will look for that spray and talk to my husband (I call him My Very Own MacGyver) and see what shading we can provide. SO GLAD I found GS! Thank you, everyone.
planting when not dormant Whatever nursery you bought the trees from should not have sent them to you now. We have a nursery and I know first hand that any flowering tree is not supposed to be dug up during summer. At fall and through the winter the trees are in what you would call dormancy. THis is the right time to dig mova and replant and kind for tree like a crape myrtle. If they do not survive I would contact the people you bought them from and mention this fact to them. Hope this was helpful. moderator's note: corrected Chatspeak see point 3.2 of usage rules moderator's note: removed religious comment see of point 2.2 of usage rules
