Replanting a crepe myrtle

[Lyoshka]

Hi all! we moved in our new house 3 years ago and the builder stuck this crepe myrtle sort of in the middle of back yard. For 3 years I've been trying to figure out where to move the little guy and finally decided to move it to a sunny side of the house, where it can create some nice vertical interest (adding more bushes, pencil hollies and some other layers). The other possibility is on the corner in front of the screened porch. I want to make sure that this crepe myrtle is of the more dwarfy variety and have no way of knowing. Can any one comment based on the pic? ...the tree is about 7-8 feet now and has not grown much in 3 years -maybe a foot?
We are zone 8a, coastal North Carolina.

So questions:
1) based on the pics, would you suggest putting it against the foundation on the side (well, about 3 feet away), or should I put it by the screened porch (plan to add azaleas there)....
2) If i put it on the side of the house, would a camelia look good by the screened porch or would you suggest a smaller landscape tree (a useful fruit tree would be the best)?

thank you very much for your help!

 

[Chuck]

Hi all! we moved in our new house 3 years ago and the builder stuck this crepe myrtle sort of in the middle of back yard. For 3 years I've been trying to figure out where to move the little guy and finally decided to move it to a sunny side of the house, where it can create some nice vertical interest (adding more bushes, pencil hollies and some other layers). The other possibility is on the corner in front of the screened porch. I want to make sure that this crepe myrtle is of the more dwarfy variety and have no way of knowing. Can any one comment based on the pic? ...the tree is about 7-8 feet now and has not grown much in 3 years -maybe a foot?
We are zone 8a, coastal North Carolina.

So questions:
1) based on the pics, would you suggest putting it against the foundation on the side (well, about 3 feet away), or should I put it by the screened porch (plan to add azaleas there)....
2) If i put it on the side of the house, would a camelia look good by the screened porch or would you suggest a smaller landscape tree (a useful fruit tree would be the best)?

thank you very much for your help!

I know it isn't a dwarf variety and an 85% chance not a semi-dwarf. The taller a CM gets the slower it grows. My CM's are about 15 years old and are still growing albeit slowly They are about 18 ft tall and are expected to top out at 18-20. Three years is a young tree and I would not be surprised if your tree grew to at least 15 ft. But supposing it stops at where it is now, the root ball you would need, at minimum, would weigh at least 1000-1500 lbs. That is not a job for an amateur, plus you would need special equipment. It would be much much easier and a LOT cheaper to cut down and kill the tree and replace it with a tree that you actually know.
You must know what the diameter of the tree will be before you plant next to a house. You want, at minimum, 1 ft. between the wall of the house and the widest part of the tree when it is full grown. You must also know the max height of the tree at full maturity and have the top of the tree at least 3 feet from the roof in case of high wind.

 

[oneeye]

I wouldn't put the plant by the foundation or that close to the house, especially since yournot sure what kind of Crepe Myrtle you have. There are about 50 different Crepe Myrtles and it would be impossible to identify yours. You could just buy a new one with a tag and be sure of the size, and plant it where you want to plant it. I would not dig up the 3 year old either because it's going to look special this year. Camelia's will only grow in acidic soil with a pH of 6.2 to 6.5 and need shade, Crepe Myrtles on the other hand, need at least a minimum of 6 to 8 hours of Full sunlight or they won't bloom well.

 

[Lyoshka]

oh man, this is not encouraging... thanks for the replies!