Pete, where are you?

For me Crepes act more like perennials. They die back to near ground level most years.

My vote it to prune out the dead wood, water when needed and let it be.

I live in south Georgia. Its a new tree, only about 10 inches.

It sounds like you might be saying that you bought a bare-root crape myrtle. Is that what you got? Any chance of a picture so we might better understand what you are working with?

A crape myrtle, bought a month ago in Georgia, should have been fully leafed out and growing. Did it loose all it's leaves after you planted it? I can't help but have a million questions when I read your initial post. I think we need more information.

brandon7, I will post a pick tomorrow.

A healthy crepe myrtle should take off and put on good vegetative growth in its first season in a favorable climate.

Sounds like this one had top dieback for whatever reason, and is sending up growth at the base, which is fine. If you want a tree, select one or more strong shoots and prune back the others. Here, I let multiple ones grow in spring to produce a multi-stemmed shrub.

Here is the pic as promised.

I see new leaves pushing out. I wouldn't be concerned.

choose how many stalks you want to keep as the trunk of the crepe myrtle and train them to grow and remove the rest. here are some useful links from "The Grumpy Gardener"

http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/beginners-guide-crepe-myrtles

http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/stop-dont-chop-crepe-myrtles

http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/…/the-grumpy-garde…/

As NHBabs said, your crApe myrtle appears to have a great future. I'm glad you posted that picture. I was imagining something in much worse shape.

If it were me, I would do a couple of things. First, prune the dead stem down to just a little above the highest branching shoot you plan to keep. If all or most of the shoots are coming from below ground level, cut the dead stem at ground level.

Second, I would remove the bed liner. It doesn't seem to be serving any real purpose, and it will prevent roots from growing out normally. Such a "weed barrier" is also a barrier to the crApe myrtle's roots. Around future larger trees, it could be a much bigger problem by encouraging future girdling roots.

Thank you everyone!