How to Care for your Crape Myrtles and Keep Them Blooming
Now is the time of the year to fully enjoy your beautiful crape myrtles in Maryland. The flowers come in many different colors from deep reds, whites, pink, purples to light lavenders. Many times, people wonder why their crape myrtles aren’t blooming well. Several reasons could be causing your trees to have sparse numbers of blooms.
Improper pruning and pruning at the incorrect times is the most common reason for crape myrtle lack of flowering. Pruning should occur after the trees finish blooming or in very early spring before
they start new sprouts. Pruning them once they have started growing in the spring will affect the number of blooms. Keep in mind that you don’t have to trim the tops of your crape myrtles. You can let the tops grow naturally and just keep the sucker growth pruned out to keep them looking neat.
Other reasons your crepe myrtles could be lacking many flowers is too much nitrogen. Over fertilizing can cause crape myrtles to generate lots of leaves but not many blooms. This is common when the trees are in areas where lawns are frequently fertilized. You should lower the amount of nitrogen during the growing season. Use a slow release organic fertilizer in the spring for best results.
Drought and lack of sun can also affect your crape myrtles. Crape myrtles do like it hot and lots of full sun. If the weather is cooler than normal it can affect the number of blooms. If your tree is over shadowed by larger trees and doesn’t receive full sun for most of the day they will be lacking flowers. During the time of drought in the summer, your trees may go dormant and can also affect the amounts of blooms the tree will produce. Proper watering is important.
As we have mentioned above there are many common reasons your crape myrtles can have less than the desired amounts of flowers. A quick overview, it is important that you prune your trees the right way and at the proper time of year. Plenty of sun, water, drainage and slow-release fertilizer in the spring. Treat insects and disease when first signs arise.
If you live in Maryland and have established crape myrtles or are thinking of new plantings, American Landscaping Inc can assist you. We can provide you with information regarding the variety and color crepe myrtle that is right for your landscape area. Our experts can plant them and get them going and maintain them for you year-round.
American Landscaping Inc.
(301) 384-4486
We serve clients in Montgomery, Prince Georges, Howard and Anne Arundel Counties, throughout the Washington, DC metro area including the following cities and communities:
Ashton MD | Sandy Spring, MD | Barnesville, MD | Beltsville, MD | Bethesda, MD | Brookeville, MD |Burtonsville, MD | Cabin John, MD | Calverton, MD | Chevy Chase, MD | Clarksville, MD | Colesville, MD | College Park, MD | Columbia, MD | Damascus, MD | Friendship Heights, MD | Gaithersburg, MD | Germantown, MD | Glen Echo, MD | Hyattsville, MD | Kensington, MD | Laytonsville, MD | Laurel MD | Montgomery Village, MD | North Bethesda, MD | Kensington, MD | North Potomac, MD | Olney, MD | Poolesville, MD | Potomac, MD | Riverdale, MD | Rockville, MD | Savage, MD | Scaggsville, MD | Silver Spring, MD |Somerset, MD | Spencerville, MD | Oakmont, MD | Takoma Park, MD | Wheaton, MD | West Laurel MD | White Oak, MD | Berwyn Heights, MD | Cloverly, MD | Glenwood, MD | Lanham, MD | Landover, MD | Fulton, MD | Washington D.C.