Newly Planted Weeping Crepe Myrtle

No, it's not really a patented weeping crepe myrtle, but it is weeping, as am I. I purchased and transplanted a 15 gallon Crepe Myrtle, Lagerstroemia "Natchez" bush last weekend. It has a lovely shape and is placed where it is in order to balance off a dwarf Magnolia at the other end of my new front yard landscape design. Both will hopefully provide year round interest, with both their shapes and their bark in the winter. I am delighted with my choices.

The Crepe Myrtle was transplanted at 90 degrees on a day when it the temps rose to 107. I thoroughly watered the material in the hole well in advance of the transplant and watered it some more to insure that any dry pockets were gone. This hole, BTW, was dug out months ago with a tractor-driven drill bit, well into and hopefully through the hardpan upon which most of Fresno sits. The next day, Monday, it was wilted, some of the leaves actually dry, brittle to the touch, tips of some of the smaller branches dried out. Eeeeeeek!

I gave it some more water Monday and Tuesday, and again this morning. I returned home today and it looks less wilty, but that's not to be confused with not wilty. I am so reluctant to keep putting water on it. I know that overwatering and leave a plant look like it's drying out. I just don't know what I should be doing. The temps are over 100 each day, so everything else requires more water. But . . . oh I just don't know what to do.

I'm not sure this pic will tell you much, but here it is. Can you folks tell me what I should be doing with this little girl? I have never paid so much for a plant before this. And then I had to pay to have it delivered. I just don't want to harm it and I am so invested in its shape, multi-trunk presence, I don't want to lose it.

Can you help me, please. What should I be doing? Continue to water daily, covering the top 2-3 inches or so with "rain-driven" water from my watering wand? Or let it dry out a bit? I just don't know what I should be doing with it.

Linda

Can you put up a temporary framework and shade her? You guys are already so hot up there that I doubt it will cool any, she needs all the help she can get......

I'm curious, as this sometimes happens here even though we try to plant only in the fall after the worst of the heat - would misting the foliage in the cooler hours help? Along with some shade - which I think is a great idea.

How about some mulch at the base of the tree?

From the picture though, it doesn't look all that wilty to me. It looks pretty happy, actually.

that does have a pretty shape, I bet with some shade (do you have a patio umbrella even just as a temporary thing) she'll be fine.

I think it looks in pretty good shape so far. Helping it out with some shade is a good idea as everyone else has said, and if you're worried you're watering it too much, try sticking your finger down a few inches in the soil and see how wet it's feeling. If it's really soggy then let it dry out a little before you water it next, but as long as your temperatures stay hot it'll need pretty frequent watering

I'm trying to drip some water into it in the each day before I leave for work and tomorrow I'll try to build a little circular drip collar for her which I can connect to either my hose or the currently unusable manual sprinkler system. If I use the hose I can set a timer on it and just drive away, letting it run for a half hour or so. I used to drive home on lunch hours daily when I started my patio planting, watering the new plantings three times a day during the summer. It only left me with 20 minutes to do the work, but it was enough time to get the work done. But frankly, such a schedule feels pretty exhausting to me today at my age, LOL. My work schedule makes such a task more difficult, also.

Shade is a good idea. I'm home tomorrow so I'll schedule myself an hourly visit with the camera to monitor the sun schedule. The worst of the sun is actually in the morning, at the moment. But it's moving north and the shade from the street tree is pretty much gone from her, I suspect. But I'll check it out throughout the day. And then if I can, try to figure out how I might provide some shade for her.

Misting? in the evening? Hmmm, I've always been reluctant to mist my plants in the evenings, as I fear I might invite ummm mold or mildew on the foilage. But, as I write that I realize that the evenings are NOT cooling off much [chuckling]. And our usual evenings breezes are absent as well.

Good thoughts, you guys. Ecrane, I think you've hit upon something with your mention of "frequent watering." And of course I know how important that is for new plantings. I guess I just figured that such a large rootball in a hole filled with bagged planting soil wouldn't need such TLC. That'll teach me.

I'll map out the shade, make a little soaker collar, and try to figure out how to provide more shade if I can.

Thx, I'll get back to you. She's such a pretty little specimen.

Linda

It still wouldn't hurt to do the finger test and find out how wet things are in there--it will need frequent watering, but frequent may not necessarily be daily. It depends on how fast your soil drains and how fast the tree uses up the water it has--the more sun (especially afternoon sun) the faster it'll go through water. If you do rig up some shade for it, it won't go through water quite as fast as if the sun's beating down on it so I'd definitely recommend doublechecking your watering frequency. It's definitely much harder to overwater things when it's 107 degrees out, but it's not impossible especially if your soil doesn't drain really well. And as with anything else, it's better to do deeper more thorough waterings a little less frequently vs more frequent shallow watering.

I don't mist in the evening, just in the morning or when the sun isn't too direct - depends on the location. I was really asking if it was a good idea, I wasn't sure. Just another way to get moisture to a plant without drowning the roots. I've never tried it with a tree, either.

So, OK, here I am lacking a photo to share with you at the moment, but I'll try to get one this weekend.

She's looking better. I try to get out every morning and drip some water at the base of her feet; actually, on top of the original potted material to insure that her roots are receiving the benefit. And I do the same thing each evening upon arriving home from work, but in greater quantity. She is looking much better, as a result.

KaperC, thanks. Yes, I'm "sprinkling" her occasionally upon returning home from work as well. Thanks for the clarification. I'll tell ya', it's so dry and breezy all evening here (as you doubtless know) that she's all dried off well within an hour, so I think she's doing well with the moisture on her surface.

I'm feeling grateful about her good health at the moment. And to you folks for helping me decide about the water at her toes. The finger test informs me that she is indeed dry on the surface. Shade? Well, she actually enjoys some shade from the sad Modesto Ash about 15 feet south of her, as the sun has not yet moved far enuf north to leave her in total sun all day long. I'll keep an eye on the sun movement and the amount of shade she enjoys to evaluate if artificial shade might be necessary.

Such a pretty girl.

Thanks again,
Linda

OK, here 'tis! Tiny trickle for 30-45 minutes each morning, sprinkle more heavily each evening, day after day after day after . . . . PERFECT!

See? There's new growth at the end of the limb filled with brown leaves from prior to planting.

YES!! THANK-you, all! You helped me so much.

I will continue this watering schedule until leaf fall and then probably weekly watering through winter?

Linda (dancing the "happy dance")

I would keep an eye on your watering--that sounds like a lot of water, so if you get some cooler weather it won't need as much, and also as it gets better established you'll need to back off on the frequency. I'd do the "finger test" on occasion and make sure the soil in that area isn't sopping wet. Too much water is just as bad as too little...in the heat of summer with a new plant that does make it harder to overwater since the water needs are high, but it's definitely not impossible!

OK, Ecrane, I'll keep a "finger-eye" on it. Given our temps it seems difficult, for sure, but not impossible as I wondered in my earliest thoughts. I have one of those houseplant water meters, also, which might help. Thanks, EC.

Ecrane is so right. I've been guilty of watering a plant to death in the heat - some of them just don't want it, especially natives. Once you're sure it's really established, I would try to start watering every other day, then go down from there. My worry would be that the roots won't 'learn' to seek deep moisture if they are constantly supplied from the surface.

Ditto about being guilty of overwatering in the heat of summer. Also, if the ground is as hard as you have spoken of in past posts, even the finger test won't tell you that deeper down the roots might be sitting in a puddle, unable to drain. I water my citrus more often than recommended in the summer because we have fast draining sandy soil. Myrtle is probably enjoying that shade. Are you giving transplants vitamin B? When you do you deep watering, maybe you could mix some in a bucket to give to her a couple times a week.

Lynda