When we moved into our current home six years ago, it had an established yard. We really liked the mature crepe myrtle trees it had in the back yard.
"His" are along the fence line.
My husband and I, along with many other folks, have the controversy every spring when I want to trim back the crepe myrtles that were planted 20 years ago right up next to the house.
The white ones are "hers"; the watermelon pink are "his".
and is widely written about and discussed in February and March when you see the mounds of cut crepe myrtle branches piling up
at the curb waiting for the city to come pick them up.
"Hers" are trimmed back to a height that allows for growing , hopefully, not too much taller than the roof line.
The folks against trimming back the trees say that the trees end up all knobby-looking. Well, that's true but I think it looks interesting and I am NOT going to rip out perfectly fine trees to plant a smaller versions as they suggest.
I think the white color of crepe myrtle is "Natchez".
I can trim back "hers" but "his" have to be left alone to get as big as they want to.
"Hers" come back just beautifully every year even if they do look "whacked" right after trimming.
"His" might be "Carolina Beauty".
Both varieties have beautiful peeling bark trunks.
We have planted a few more crepe myrtles since we have lived here (mostly to replace hydrangeas that needed more attention than I was willing to give them). We have planted the small versions. This one is called "Baton Rouge".
Their flowers are pretty but not the big, blouse-y blooms that the larger crepe myrtles have.
They are so beautiful. We don't have them in NJ but when we were in NC they were all over the place and I just loved them. So much beautiful color!
ReplyDeleteMarianne :)
There are OTHER couples who have the crepe myrtle debate too? It's not just us? :) This means you must be in the south like me! I'm in the Atlanta area - and going to the Haven conference, which is how I found your blog. I'm your newest follower! :)
ReplyDeleteWell all of the crepe myrtles look lovely and I think you have found a wonderful solution. At the end of the day, all of this stuff isn't worth arguing about.
ReplyDeleteYour crepe myrtles are beeeautiful! But I can see how they would cause you some trouble with the roofline. Either way, you have a lovely yard. :) Visiting from the Haven FB page. Hope you'll stop by my blog to say hi. :)
ReplyDeleteToo funny! I don't usually comment on blogs, but this was begging for me to give you a big thumbs up! Both for compromise, and your gorgeous Natchez Whites...I have several and do the same thing :)
ReplyDeletenice post..Crepe Myrtles
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