Crape myrtle bush or Tree?

Question

I just bought a young Dynamite Crape myrtle tree from lowe's about 4 feet high but it looks more like a crape myrtle bush than a tree. Should i cut the lower branches and suckers off or should i just leave it alone?

Answer 1

If you would like more of a 'tree', then you should cut the lower branches and suckers off, so that the plant grows taller.  If you leave the lower branches and suckers on, the plant will instinctively keep growing 'out', rather than 'up.'  

Same holds true for most plants, bushes / trees etc.  If you 'thin' them at the bottom, they grow up - - if you let them just grow from every which way, that's what they'll continue to do.  

Just be sure that you 'cut' them using the proper method, and seal the ends if need be, to prevent disease / rot.  

Happy tree-keeping!

Answer 2

It can be either.  Usually they have a single main stem with branches coming off low down.  These are allowed to remain to make a bush.  If you want a tree, gradually remove the lower branches .  Sometimes you'll have several stems, select one and trim off the other making just one main stem.  Yes, you might get "suckers" over the years, just trim these off.  

Answer 3

Dynamite is a 'standard' size ... up to twelve ft.... so if you trim the base up to look like a tree, that's the biggest it will get......

to have a tree-sized crape, you must SELECT a 'tree' sized crape myrtle......they get up to 25 ft tall..... there are several on the list here....

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plant...

when you are choosing a crape, there's four sizes ... note on the tags the MATURE height and spread.....there's Miniatures, to four ft..... dwarfs, to about six or seven ft, standards, to about 12-15 ft and the trees which range from 15 to 25 ft tall.....