My yard is ankle-deep in shreds of crape myrtle bark. I'd like to throw it on my compost heap, but thought I'd check for comments first. Ok?
crape myrtle bark in compost bin
I don't see any problem with it.
Thanks. It crunches up very nicely, but after watching live oak leaves sit and SIT in my compost heap, I thought I'd ask.
Well, it is bark. It's not going to decompose as fast as something with less lignin, like grass clippings.
Seriously, is your yard ankle deep? If I had that much, I think I might be looking to use it more like mulch. It will eventually decompose, but you get to take advantage of the structure for a few years first. I've got a couple of muddy spots that I don't have time to deal with properly right now; I've been putting bark and woody stems and such there, to get sort of mushed down in the mud to at least make the surface more walkable. Maybe something like that?
Nah, not ankle-deep, except right under the trees -- that was an exaggeration, lol. But it is a mess.
You're right about the mulch factor. Great idea. I did dump bark into my compost, but I think I'll do as you suggest and use the rest for mulch.
We're removing the crape myrtles pretty soon. They are tall ones (25-30 feet) in our backyard (1 tree) and narrow side yard (3 trees). They are so tall that we don't enjoy the beauty of them unless we remember to crane our necks up really high when we're in the back yard, or happen to catch a glimpse over our rooftop as we drive up to the house.The guy next door sees them out his bathroom window, but nobody else does, and the branches are starting to touch his roof so he's probably getting annoyed with them too. Gotta fix that. Meanwhile all we get is dropped blossoms making our patio a shambles and then this shredded bark. So out they go.
Conclusion: crape myrtles are great -- in other people's yards. Or maybe if they are small varieties with a smaller "mess radius" and that bloom where people can see them.
The good news is that when we get the trees removed it will give us more sun for growing vegetables and maybe putting in dwarf fruit trees.
I am sure you have a good plan for your space when you take out the trees, but did you know that you can cut them back drastically and they will do fine?
It is better to cut them back in the fall or winter.
Thanks for that, frostweed, but I think we've already made our decision.
That's o.k. I hope it all works out great.
My neighbor has some that loom over the pond and drop blooms. They are so tall that I am sure he doesn't enjoy them anymore. I tried to get him to trim them when they first started to grow but it went on deaf ears. I keep mine cut back to the tallest point I can reach it bushes out so nicely that a cardinal has made a nest there for the last two years.
May I suggest not getting dwarf fruit trees but get standards and keep them pruned back. Dwarf trees are just trees grafted onto rootstock that provide enough energy for a large tree. So you do have a small tree but it does not produce very well. A large tree, kept small will produce more and better fruit.
Sheila, I'm clueless about this stuff really -- we inherited the trees and they were in the rooftops already -- but I'm glad you're able to keep yours in check. Do you know what the height would have been without pruning? I'm curious because the guy I listen to on a radio garden show makes a point of saying to be sure to buy the right crape myrtle variety in the first place, since there are varieties that naturally grow just a few feet tall and stop, and there are varieties that are meant to be really tall (and varieties in between) and that works a lot better than trying to prune. Of course that isn't very helpful advice if you already have the tree! But I'm just curious if you have one that would have been as tall as your neighbors -- that is, whether you are pruning it just a few feet short of its natural destiny, or if you are able to significantly shape/shorten what it would have been on its own. Not sure if I worded that right. Or if it matters, really -- just curious.
Kenboy, thanks for that advice on the fruit trees. I had no idea. It'll be awhile before we get that far, and I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions and be doing research before then, regarding variety and such. I plan to move carefully but really appreciate that bit of advice.