Bad Breaks

Broken branch of a crape myrtle

Sometimes in gardening, as in life, we experience bad breaks. We don't intend for these to happen, they just do. Whether caused by too much stress, mistakes, or happenstance the only power we have over these breaks is to clean up and hope for the best. Such is the case with one of my crape myrtles planted along our property line border. The crape myrtles have a beautiful watermelon red color when in bloom but the recent rains have left their branches heavy with moisture.  Add to that a dash of wind and you have a recipe for a bad break. The crape myrtles broke off right at a branching point (or crotch) where two of the major branches were joined.

Here's a closer look at the break point.  The joint is split down the middle which isn't good because it leaves a large gaping opening for pests and disease.  It also prevents the cambium layer of bark from transmitting moisture further up the branch.

Fortunately the aesthetic impact of the broken branch is minimal. I removed the branch with a bow saw and tried to make the cut as clean as possible. It was difficult because of the location. Truthfully that branch probably should have been pruned off in the spring. Often you can prevent bad breaks from happening with proper pruning.  The wound should heal over time.  The bark will slowly grow over the wound and eventually close it up completely.  It's very similar to what my deer damaged trees have done. All of the deer damaged trees that survived through the first year of wounding are doing very well now. (If you have deer in your area protect your young trees now from the deer rubbing that happens in the fall. Here's how I prevent deer from damaging my trees.)

Of course a smart gardener always tries to make lemonade out of lemons or in this case new trees out of cuttings! I snipped off 12 appropriate semi-hardwood cuttings from the fall branch and began the process of rooting them. Hopefully they will root and grow into strong crape myrtles to plant next year.

Yogurt cups make a good container for rooting cuttings.

How has the wet weather effected your garden?

The Crape Myrtle Border

Along one side of our property there is a narrow strip of land between the house and our neighbors' properties.  There isn't much room to do a whole lot of gardening (or so I originally thought) and this side of the house felt exposed when we bought our home in 2007.  This is how it looked a couple years ago just after I planted a short row of hemlocks as a privacy screen:

November 2007

And this is how it looks today:

August 2011

You can't even see the hemlocks now.  I planted the crape myrtles in between each hemlock. We later lost two of the hemlocks then I replanted one then promptly lost it.  The two that remain are doing great now.  They get protection from the summer sun by the fast growing crape myrtles. In the winter we'll have evergreen color on the border. I added the stone border a couple years ago and began planting the 'Longwood Blue' caryopteris. With the exception of 4-5 plants (and some of those are in other gardens) most of the caryopteris came from cuttings.

The crape myrtles all came from seedlings or cuttings. The light purple ones were seedlings that sprung up in my parent's yard from their neighbor's crape myrtle trees.  The watermelon colored crape myrtles were from cuttings. Had I been thinking at the time I would have color coordinated the trees better, but they still look good as a mix!  I enjoy crape myrtles for their fast growing abilities and their natural beauty when grown as a tree. Many people lob the tops off the crape myrtles when pruning which will completely eliminate the beauty of the mottled tan and brown bark that appears on older trees (see Crape Murder or How a Crape Myrtle Should Be Pruned). Plant breeders have now developed smaller dwarf crape myrtles for those gardeners who prefer their crape myrtles as shrubs - much better than committing Crape Murder!

It's amazing how fast a garden can transform!

The Long View

Have you ever stood back and tried to observe your garden at a different angle? Maybe from up high on a slope? Or down low from the ground looking up at the flowers and trees? Sometimes it's helpful to take a different perspective in order to plan out your garden better.  Here's an example. I took this picture the other day from our side garden.  The side garden is on the eastern side of our house and includes the corner shade garden as well as the border garden. Along the border I have a row of crape myrtles with a hedge of caryopteris planted underneath. This would be an awesome location for some hydrangeas but since more shade isn't present my caryopteris works just fine.  It will begin blooming later this month and should continue to bloom through September. What else do you see in the photo?

Way back off in the distance is my garden shed.  If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see it better. Immediately to the right is a viburnum and just past that to the right is a second viburnum.  The first viburnum is Viburnum opolus 'Sterile' which blooms with snowball like flowers. The second is an arrowwood viburnum called 'Morton'.  A young red maple tree is planted directly in the center of the picture. It's purpose is to divide the pathway into to sections around it.

What is missing in all this?  A few things could be (none of which are critical or even necessary, just ideas):

• Garden structures: trellises for climbing plants, a faux bridge, or even an arbor.
• Evergreen plantings: nearly everything here is deciduous which doesn't leave much to look at in the winter months.
• Perennial and annual beds: There isn't much here and a few perennials or annials would help to accent the shrubs. 

What do you think?  What would you add to this area?

How a Crape Myrtle Should Be Pruned

You hear about it all the time crape myrtles being unceremoniously chopped off before they can become what they should be. This pruning method is best known as crape murder. The result of crape murder is a plant that ends up with lollipop like flowering tops with branches that flop all around in the slightest breeze. Can you tell I'm not a fan? But I am a fan when the pruning is done right. That means allowing 1, 3, or 5 stems to grow into a multibranched tree. It's a fantastic sight, when done right:

Here's an example of crape myrtle pruning gone right! This crape myrtle at my parent's house has been a allowed to grow into a full size tree. The suckers get cleaned up regularly and dead branches get pruned every now and then. This particular tree lost it's other main branch because of the freeze of 2007. A couple new branches are being trained to replace that lost branch. Pruning a crape myrtle allows you to see one of it's best features - the bark! Over time the bark begins to develop a mottled pattern that offers year round interest.


A quick crape myrtle tip: You can easily propagate crape myrtles from the suckers by taking a 4-6 inch piece, dipping it in rooting hormone, and sticking it into a moist medium. Also you can stick them in water and they will root in about a month. Just keep the water changed frequently.