We bought our house a few years ago in NC (zone 7a, near the
VA border) and were told then that the developer had planted these wax myrtles,
so that would make them now at least 13 years old. As you can see, they are
huge -- the birdhouse further down the hill is approximately 8 ft tall and the
white fence at the top of the hill is four feet tall, so I'm guessing the wax
myrtle on the left is around 15 feet tall. The one on the far right is a little
strange and is wider than it is tall because the maple shades it in the summer.

As for width, the former owner pruned them into what we
think are lovely trunk structures, but they are still very wide. As of now they are almost 20 feet wide, and I'm guessing
they might possibly be even wider had they not earlier been pruned on their side and behind as the neighborly thing to do. At this point, they
are now too tall for us to prune without calling in a tree service, so we're
REALLY hoping they've reached their mature size. These have multiple splayed
out trunks though, so maybe with fewer trunks they wouldn't be so wide.

We do get ice and heavy snow here occasionally and have to
rope the trunks up before an impending storm to keep them from breaking off at ground
level, which happened our first year. Sorry that happened to you, Dave in NoVA.
In this area, the leaves stay on year-round and the trunks/branches are a bit
fragile, so winter weather can really do some damage.

The top two pics were taken this morning (thru the screened
porch), and I'll try to find a summer picture also ... because aren't we all
about ready to see more green than brown?! I hope this info and these pictures might give
you a little glimpse into your wax myrtle's future, towsonite. :)

Dvance,

Thanks for showing your maturing Wax Myrtles. I keep coming back to this link to see progressive photos. This helps me.

Here's a hedge of WM, thick & dense about 8' tall. I took this pic last week @ Nat'l Arboretum. If you pull back the branches you can see stumps where the largest stems are cut back each year. This way the hedge never gets tall and bare at t he base. One problem with this technique, after the cutting back, the hedge looks thin & scraggly until it fills in again which takes a couple of months.

Is there a certain time of year you are supposed to cut them back like that? How high do they cut them? i.e. to the base or something higher?

I will be buying some in a couple of days and would like them to grow up with a hedge around an inside corner, then spaced out like the ones in Dvance's pics. Dvance - would you mind measuring those that have been spaced out to be trees?

Sam, I'm glad you included that extra info on how pruning shows up in the plant. I wonder why they just didn't get an evergreen hedge that grows shorter to begin with. Oh well, maybe they changed their minds in mid stream.

Thanks guys!

Xtal, the trees were planted 10 feet apart on center and each tree is about 25 feet wide. Hope this helps.

Thanks Dvance,

I got mine planted on 13.5' centers. They went down about a week ago. Now, I wish they were closer, but I'm sure they'll be okay. Thanks for responding.

I think you nailed the spacing, Xtal! These trees here actually seem too close because each tree's branches now intertwine with and overlap their neighbor tree's branches by quite a distance. Just today I cut some of them back to give other thinly leafed branches more sunlight. I'll bet yours will be just beautiful!

Also, I apologize for the delay (have been away for the past few weeks). So glad to hear that yours are planted and that you got them spaced so nicely. Great job!

Dvance,

I'm so glad you wrote back tonight. All afternoon, I've been wondering if I needed to plant them closer. I could just hug you!

lol - I'm sure glad I did too now. I'd feel awful if I read later that you replanted them. Now we can both sleep well tonight! : )

... and a good night to you, too!

Hi Towsonite, I don't know any other way to contact you. Did you ever find your wax myrtle? Last year there was a plant sale @ Lake Roland AWA Herring Run (non-profit). Even better, tomorrow (April 8) there is a native plant sale @ Church of the Redeemer on Charles St. More than likely they will have wax myrtle. sam_md

I planted Wax Myrtles last year. Listened to the closest radio gardening program on the weeekends out of Austin, TX. To make them bush out, they directed cutting off the tips which force it to produce more side shoots.

I've got both the dwarf and standard size which I bought from a Home Depot store. 45 min away. BE SURE you confirm the variety. The dwarfs were slipped in. Undoubtedly, the staff didn't know the difference. They got planted somewhere else.

Four were separated to be treated as trees being limbed up, eventually growing out and provided shade for plants underneath.

Good luck on finding the WMs, just confirm that ALL are the variety you wanted.

This post inspired me to plant wax myrtles. I bought 18 of them. 9 on each side of my backyard. My hope is it will provide a privacy wall. We bought them at about 5-6'. They were about 3' wide. It's been about a month since we had them planted and they are sprouting leaves all over. Very excited to watch these grow.

Today's a pic of one of my males, just a slight movement and yellow pollen is shed.

In listening to a radio garden program last year out of Austin, Tx, they gave a tip that I used which is very helpful. Tip each stem. It will cause that stem to branch out. I tipped every stem so I could get a bushy privacy hedge. I did this about 2 weeks ago and am now seeing them branching out.

I'm going to be treating mine in two different ways. There is an area near the corner of the fence that I want solid. Once they turn the corner and are directly facing the chainlink fence, I'm going to limb them up like trees so I can eventually plant something underneath them. Being here in Texas, most plants appreciate a shady break from our blistering hot sun. So, it will give me some more place that I can plant.

On the outside of the fence, I planted some Texas Sage that should come up to cover the 4' height of the fence. Where they stop, the limbed up Wax Myrtles should be able to take over from there and give privacy at that height and continue upwards.

I'm glad to have found a native plant that will meet my needs and provide cover for the birds, too.

Rosemarie, how far apart did you plant them?

Sam, you have pollen. Good for you. I haven't seen any yet.

I live in Georgia and have been following these posts for a while. I planted 21 wax myrtle 2 years ago that were 2 feet tall.

I'm really not sure how to care for these from here on out. Keep them limbed

Sorry. Do I keep these limbed up and let grow tall or cut tips to allow bushing out.

I really need to figure this site out.

Jarant - may I ask how close you planted your Wax Myrtles? That might indicates more as to whether you plan to keep them bushy for privacy or for limbing them up like a tree. The ones that I plan to keep bushy for privacy were planted closer to gather than the ones I plan to limb up like trees.

These are 5 to 6 feet apart and doing great.

Those will make a great privacy hedge. They look like they are planted next to the house. If you tip each stem, it will make it bushier. Hmm, I would have thought you would have gone with something that gets 6" or so tall. Wax Myrtles will grow pretty tall for hedge material. But, they sure look healthy.

There are more people on this site who know this plant much better than me.

They are actually 49 feet from my neighbors house in the picture

They really are growing fast. This I hope will look better than a fence. The neighbors love the. My only concern is keeping them from looking woody in the years to come. To bush or not to bush is the question. Lol

I planted 20 wax myrtles in March. They were a little over 5 feet tall when they were planted. In two months, they've filled in a lot.

They are getting there. You live in TX right?

This was a large WM at a municipal park on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Some kind of renovations were done and the plant was cut back hard. As you can see it is coming back thick and dense.

Thanks for all who contributed to this. I think this is the only readily accessible documentation of wax myrtle in zone 7. I planted a bare root wax myrtle in the spring here in Asheville, NC. Of dozens of species we received in the spring, this one didn’t survive transplant. Lost a witch hazel too; neither to do w cold. I’m expecting a potted one from TyTy nursery in Dec., I’ll try and document here. Thanks again for the info, hope all of your W myrtles flourished this year.

Hi C Hub, HERE is a NC farmer's market, I was there last week. They had WM #2, @ $20, they really looked nice. If you decide to go there look for the area that's permanently set up as a garden center.

Hey thx Sam_md. I’ve driven past that many many times on I-40, hard to miss the sign. I never would have thought to shop for wax myrtle there! Makes sense they’re more available down in the piedmont, never seen in local nurseries here. I’ll make sure to stop in next time I’m down that way. Cheers

townsonite,
gorgeous Southern Bayberry! ive been googling sooo much to figure out the best placement, and likely growth. ...especially given my Northern Bayberry die back in winter (thought they lovvvvved cold). 2 didnt survive the 1st winter, 2017. spring 2018 the nursery repkaced with Wax Myrtle (aka Southern Bay).

at over15ft, I'd want the 2 Wax Myrtle as neighbor hedge (i need a TWO STORY SHADE evergreen). in the 5 to 8 ft range, theyd be up front, bordering the yard from the street (with dwarft buford hollies).

congrats again. Placement ideas welcomed
(pucs- of Northern Bayberry being planted,in 2017. then 2018, as WaxMrytle replaced 2 dead ones)

@townsonite- yes, isn't it odd that the northern Bayberry is more cold hardy, yet it's called semi Evergreen. Thats a conundrum to me. i have both: Northern and Southern Bayberries. the Northern B. definitely lost 100% of its foliage. we'll see about the Southern B/ Wac Myrtle Dec 2019.

@townsonite, @rosemarie, and @ xtal - how are your WM doing mid Summer 2019?

I know this is an old thread but hoping for an answer. How far from a fence should I plant if I want to be sure the roots/trunk won't hurt the fence. I'm planning to grow as trees. I live in Houston, TX.

about 5 ft.

Thank you!

Candace,

These are the Dwarf Wax Myrtles. Not what one thinks of as a Dwarf. I've been working in that area so it's still ongoing. The one on the left is limbed up nicely, but then I lost the privacy that I wanted. I had planned to plant some Abelia Grandiflora until the butterflies won out. So, Rue made it instead. At least, it's the rent house next door while the other blocks the view from the street. So, I may have to live with that for a while. Of course, it could revert back to a shrubby bush if it is left unpruned. It just looks so much better cleaned up. The one on the right might just remain like it is as it does provide more privacy.

The last photo shows that it was planted too close to the fence and has grown through it to some degree as well as growing over it. I don't think they mind. But, it's worthwhile to keep it off the fence. I haven't gotten around to any pruning toward that. But, I don't want it to get any heavier wood, due to time, growing there. This turned out to be a good resource with all the photos that everyone has posted.

ExMontrose person here. I saw that you lived in Houston. At least, you get more rain than we do up here.

Xtal

Good luck on your planting. Be sure to take Before and After photos along with some progressive age shots... not only for your own reference, but to be able to share them here as well.

Does anyone know a good place to purchase them in the Austin, TX area?

an idea: maybe order them online? Wilson Bros Online has good reviews. Dave's Garden has recommendations for online vendors. Good luck!.

Nancy,

Austin has some of the best nurseries around. Just look at the list of nurseries and make a couple of calls. You'll find them very close, I had bought mine from Lowes in Georgetown nearly 5 yrs ago. It was a very late Fall purchase. Support the local nurseries. I'm not a fan of the big box stores. Their plant dept are run so poorly. They don't care what plants they sell as long as they make a sale.

Hi

I live in northern Baltimore County which is in MD. Zone 7. I’m thinking of buying the Wax Crepe Myrtle shrubs not the trees. Good idea??

I need to hide a propane tank lid and I want to place about 5-6 of these Myrtles in front of the lid. I have a deer problem so I’m limited on what I can use and I want an evergreen shrub. There are plenty of shrubs I can use but by winter their leaves will drop and I’ll see the propane tank! If I can’t use the Wax Crepe Myrtles does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thank you so much!

Grace

Grace,

What is the horticultural name of those shrubs? I'd like to look them up.

Crystal

Thanks @towsonite, dvance27344, Xtlal, and 1818 Federal (7bEC) for information on your wm.

I found these articles online that provide the distinction between a southern and northern wm (Northern - https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/myrica-pensylvanica/, Southern - https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/myrica-cerifera/). After reading through these and reading all your comments, I decided to go with the southern wm with hopes that it doesn’t lose much foliage in the winter. I’m going for the thick hedge look for privacy screening and planted them 5ft off the fence line and 5ft apart. These are 3 gallons (about 17-20 inches tall) planted in early April. Will post progress photos at 6 months and 12 months.

This spring has been rather on the chilly side and we’ve had 2 frosts in April. Please comment how you cared for the plantings while it’s going through the acclimation/establishment phase. I genuinely would love to see them thrive. In particular, how often do you water them?

Grace, the comment that I would have made, without knowing that plant, is to plant native... whatever you do. Our native plants feed the pollinators. The plants from China don't. Here in Central Texas, we have areas that are void of life because all of native plants have been displaced by plants whose heritage goes back to China... which doesn't feed any of our bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and so forth.

Much success to you,

Xtal

Hello, I found this thread trying to find information on some 30 gallon southern wax myrtles I had planted in my yard with hopes of a privacy hedge Last winter. I am located in Boerne Texas. there was a bad freeze in February and I have had to prune a lot of dead limbs, even sizesble ones from the trunk. overall there are a lot of branches that have green leaves but I’m still seeing some branches where the leaves are curling, wilting, drying up or otherwise looking distressed. I wasnt sure if I’m under watering or over watering. I bought a soil moisture monitor and it seems the soil around the trunk/ rootball is leaning towards dry while all the surrounding soil from the transplant hole is all the way to the wet side of the monitor. I can provide some pictures, any help or advice would be great.

thanks!

@tayde2020 i am very curious how yours turned out!

Our native plants feed the pollinators. The plants from China don't. Here in Central Texas, we have areas that are void of life because all of native plants have been displaced by plants whose heritage goes back to China... which doesn't feed any of our bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and so forth.

Absolutely untrue!! Non-native plants do indeed support birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators. It is a fallacy to think otherwise. And many do so just as effectively and attract as wide a 'clientele' as do native plants!

I’m thinking of buying the Wax Crepe Myrtle shrubs not the trees.

There are wax myrtles and there are crape myrtles but there is no such plant as a wax crape myrtle. Wax myrtle is botanically Morella cerifera, an evergreen shrub. Crape myrtle is Lagerstroemia indica, a deciduous shrub or small tree. One is native and one is not.

Lots of BS posted on these forums. One needs to be careful about the info they are taking away as a lot of it is garbage!

One of the best sources for information on this topic (native vs non-native and the ramifications) is Dr. Doug Tallamy. If you are interested in science and facts, he is an authority.