Crepe Myrtle 'suckers"?

10 years ago

My crepe myrtle is over 24 years old. It is now almost 20' feet high. Three years ago I had it cut down to about 5' and now its up there again. But that is not the reason for this post now...I noticed at times that I see some small growth slightly away from the trunk of the shrug. I always referred to them as suckers. Others tell me that I good dig them up and have more C. M's...which I cannot afford due to limited space. Now I think i read somewhere that suckers are known to sap the strength of the main body, so its best to get rid of them. I would like to know if these suckers or whatever they are, good enough to give me more C. M's for friends and relatives? They are now almost 2 feet high and they do grow fast, as the mother plant does.

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Comments (4)

Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
10 years ago
Sure, you can separate them and grow them, provided you get enough roots with them. If not, you could probably root them as cuttings. You might have better luck with smaller suckers than two-foot ones.

They are a clone of the parent plant and will bloom the same as the parent. Suckers usually result when you trim back the main plant.
brandon7 TN_zone7
10 years ago
I'm guessing that what you saw regarding suckers resulting in the loss of energy to the main plant was information pertaining to grafted trees or shrubs, or something like that. I really don't see how the suckers on your crApe myrtle would be likely to do that.

I would remove the suckers because I think a single plant or a group of distinct plants would look better than a crApe myrtle jungle. I just can't picture a bunch of suckers, growing in random places, looking that good.

If you do remove the suckers, you are probably going to see a lot of regrowth in the area where you cut the roots to remove the sucker plants. You could use a herbicide to kill the left over roots (to prevent regrowth), but, if you do that, be very very careful to only treat the roots not still attached to the main plant your are keeping.
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Anthony .
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
You could use a herbicide to kill the left over roots (to prevent
regrowth), but, if you do that, be very very careful to only treat the
roots not still attached to the main plant your are keeping.>>>

Well now, how does one get able to see the differences of the roots? I do not want to kill the main plant. This is not a grafted shrub. I was told that crepe Myrtles, among some other shrubs or trees, are known for 'suckers", and even get to replant them.
Trent A (9a/Gulf coast)
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
My Myrtle's suckers grow directly from the base of the main stem(s) and do not have a root structure. I would not treat with herbicide. I cleanly cut them as close to the trunk. Depending on the rainfall, I may need to do this 5-6 times in a growing season. These "trees" want to grow as shrubs, so you will need to do this more or less for the life of the plant.

I've never tried to root these softwood cutting to create clones, but it seems possible. However, if they are large and hardened (over 1" thick), this may be difficult to get them to root.

If they are sufficiently away from the main trunk, get hand trowel and do some light excavating. If they have roots, put them in a pot and see if they take.