Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

While crepe myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica is not a North American native plant species and does not fall within our area of study, we can give you some general guidelines for transplanting and ameliorating the effects of transplant shock. Plant response to transplanting (transplant shock) is a complicated issue. Some of the factors involved may include the general health of the tree before transplanting, type of transplanting method used, size of the root ball relative to the size of the top of the tree, time of year transplanted, time of day of transplanting, weather conditions on, before and after transplanting, soil conditions before and after transplanting, pruning at time of transplanting, and after-transplanting care. This is by no means an exhaustive list, other factors can also play a role in transplantation success or failure.

It is tempting to water more in response to signs of transplant stress. However, that is often fatal for your plant. The better solution is almost always to remove foliage by pruning. In general, a newly tranplanted tree should have 1/3 to 1/2 of its foliage removed at the time of transplanting. This is usually accomplished by judicious pruning of branches.

Plants under stress should not be fed, so don't feed your crepe myrtle until it begins actively growing again; probably next spring. Prune back as much top as you feel comfortable removing -- crepe myrtle can actually stand very hard pruning with little ill-effect. Finally, keep a close eye on the rootball to make sure the soil is not staying too wet. If it is, stop watering altogether for a few days until the soil can dry out some.