Wait Until Spring to Plant Crepe Myrtle

Q: We recently had a pine tree removed and the stump ground up. We are thinking of replacing that space with a crepe myrtle. It gets full morning and afternoon sun. Should we plant now or wait until spring? 

A: I think you should wait until early spring. My reasoning is that you need to give the stump chips as much time as possible to break down. It’s impossible to separate all the stump chips from the soil that piled up when the stump was ground. The chips take nitrogen out of the soil for their own purposes, leaving little for the crepe myrtle. They will not be completely broken down by then, so take that into account and add extra nitrogen for the crepe myrtle.

I recommend you mix a half pint of 10-10-10 fertilizer with the soil that you use to backfill the hole. By June, you’ll find out if this is enough fertilizer. If it’s not enough, the leaves of the crepe myrtle will be a light yellow. If this is the case, scatter a pint of 10-10-10 around the area. Eventually, the wood chips will give back the nitrogen they absorbed, but it will be gradual. Keep an eye on the leaves: green is good, yellow is bad.