Crape Myrtle Ebony and Ivory

After back filling and lightly compacting the 50/50 mix of existing soil and compost give the Ebony and Ivory Crape Myrtle a good deep watering. This is not to be rushed. most of the water you put on the plant at first will run away from the plant until the soil is soaked. A general rule of thumb is to count to 5 for every one gallon of pot size. For example a one gallon pot would be watered until you count to 5 a three gallon pot would be 15 and so on. Check the plant daily for the first week or so and then every other day there after. Water using the counting method for the first few weeks.

Feeding your plants is probably the single most forgotten part of growing healthy long lasting plants. We recommend feeding your Crape Myrtle Ebony and Ivory in the very early spring and again in mid fall after all new growth has hardened off. Bio-tone starter fertilizer is the best product to use at the time of planting. Crape myrtles tend to use more nitrogen than some other plant families. Our ideal fertilizer schedule for you to use is as follows. Do an early spring fertilizer with a product such as Espoma Tree-tone at the recommended rate this will give the plant a boost of nitrogen that will be needed for healthy foliage and stem growth. Follow this up with a early summer application of Espoma Flower-Tone, this will provide the necessary nutrients to promote a flush of beautiful flowers. Espoma products are easy to use, just sprinkle around the base of the plant and water it in. Be careful with products such as miracle-grow as these products can burn newly planted plants when not used at the recommended rates. Slow-release fertilizer can help prevent rapid sucker growth that is vulnerable to diseases and insects.

We highly recommend that you mulch your Ebony and Ivory Crape Myrtle with either a ground hardwood mulch or a ground cypress mulch depending on your local availability. Any type of mulch will do but cypress or hardwood mulch will be of a higher quality and provide better nutrition overall as they breakdown. Mulching helps to keep weeds away which will compete with your new investment for water and nutrients. A 2 to 3 inch layer of mulch is sufficient but remember to take care not to cover any part of the stem of the plant with mulch. Its better to leave a one inch gap of space between the mulch and the stem or trunk of the plant.

Depending on the variety, crape myrtles can have different shapes and sizes. The miniature, or dwarf, varieties such are generally bred to have lots of branches, and they tend to look shrub-like and would only need pruning if they are growing unevenly. Medium and large varieties such as Ebony and Ivory Crape Myrtle tend to develop sucker growth, or small shoots at the base of the trunk. These may be pruned off if desired, and the entire plant may be pruned according to your tastes. For varieties that bloom before mid-July, deadheading (or cutting off spent blossoms) can often result in a second blooming. Ebony and Ivory Crape Myrtle blooms on this year’s new growth (often called “new wood”), so prune during late winter or very early spring before growth starts. Fall pruning, especially in warmer climates, can result in a quick flush of new growth that prevents dormancy and makes winter freezes potentially deadly.There are two schools of thought, and quite a bit of debate, about larger pruning jobs. Some gardeners like to lop off all stems at a uniform height each year, leaving branch stubs in the winter that flush out into a ball of growth in the spring. This is useful if you want a uniform border and height control, but it can result in bunchy growth and knobby stems that may be more susceptible to aphids and disease. Other gardeners decry this method as “crape murder” and adopt a less aggressive approach that conforms more to the natural size and shape of the plant. Most growers and researchers agree that only light pruning is necessary for plenty of blooms, so the choice is really yours. The best decision about the size of your crape myrtle is made when you buy it. Buy the right variety to fit the space! If you buy a 15′ variety and try to keep it 7′ tall, you will prune yourself silly. Instead, buy a 7′ variety, and you will find yourself with an incredibly low-maintenance plant. To achieve a graceful tree shape that shows off the lovely bark, first remove all but 3-5 strong trunks. Then remove lateral branches on the bottom half of the tree. Make cuts on long, leggy limbs to encourage branching. Don’t over prune in the beginning – make the basic cuts and then allow the plant to grow, and continue shaping over time.