Hello, I am brand new into gardening. My husband and i just bought our first home and it came with a lovely dirt back yard. We are in the process of planting and having the yard completed. We live in El Paso, TX and most of the soil is clay/dry dirt. I purchased 2 10ft tall Muskogee Crape Myrtles from a local Lowes here. Planted them as suggested by the lowes person and have been watering them twice a day. I usually fill up the basin and then let it soak in twice a day. I have not fertilized but i did just buy tree stakes from miracle grow yesterday. (haven't put them in yet). My trees were planted roughly two weeks ago and are still showing signs of wilting & slight yellowing of only on a few leafs. When we transported them they got wind burn really bad from us not covering them. Is there anything i can do to perk the trees up? Am i watering to much or not enough? If needed i can take a photo. Thank You!
Hi from a fellow Texas gardener! Crepe myrtles are a hardy shrub (can be pruned to tree form) and yours are just undergoing transplant shock, it seems to me. A 10 ft. tall plant has quite a bit of root mass that needs to settle in before the top part of the plant starts to look perky. If you are watering twice a day, you may be drowning the roots. I don't know what kind of soil you have, but if it isn't pure sand, that's a lot of water for a plant to absorb! Try cutting back to watering very deeply (dig a small hole at least 18" deep, and when it fills with water, stop watering) about twice a week. May I ask what the Lowe's person suggested? Usually the big box stores don't have dedicated garden center people, and you may get a guy that is great on plumbing advice, not so much on plant advice. Look around for a nursery that specializes in native plants. The natives require less water and are adapted to your area/soil/temperatures. Think of your bare dirt yard as a blank canvas, and you are the artist!
He just suggested that we dig a hole 3in bigger around than the pot and then deep enough so the top of the potted dirt is like an inch under the soil. We have very hard clay (caliche) and not much soft sand where i live. I put normal black bagged soil in the hole and then covered it with the normal dirt. The trees are in full sun all day and are staked down from three sides so the crazy wind here doesn't break them.
For watering a newly planted tree you might want to get a root feeder/waterer... root waterer/feeder ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) You attach the hose to it, push the steal pole all the way down into the ground near the roots and turn the water on. You want the roots to grow down where they will find water....watering at the surface will encourage the roots to stay near the soil surface creating a weak root system, weak tree and a tree that won't withstand the drought conditions that are Texas summers. You might find a similar one that isn't as expensive too.
Well, three inches bigger than the pot doesn't seem adequate. The "rule of thumb" is half again as deep as the pot, and half again as large around. This allows disturbed/soft soil for the roots to expand into. However, your crepes are planted, so do some deep watering twice a week (and that root waterer that Toni suggested is great) and next spring when the crepes start to show green, you may want to fertilize gently once. Skip the tree stake fertilizer--just get some composted steer manure and spread it around the trees, then water it in well. The trees will use what they need and ignore the rest.
Thank you so much for the helpful advice!! I do not want to tote these trees back to Lowes if they die. haha
Missa, Wrap the trees with a sheet for a few days/week or so. This will keep the sun and wind off of them until they start to acclimate you your yard. Being wind burned is very hard on the foliage. Don't be too surprised if the leaves all falls off from the stress (and then starts to put out new leaves). I cringe when I see a tree being hauled down the road in the back of a truck and no protection on the foliage. If it is a dormant tree, no problem, but leaves? no no no no no.
