Promoting Crepe Myrtle Growth

I bought a new home in October of 2007. The builder put in a 12 foot Crape Myrtle near the front of my home. As is typical of builders, they did not prep the soil or do anything but dig a hole and stick it in. In the Spring I put in some Azaleas and I added some garden soil to the dirt around the Crape Myrtle. I also put some of the Bayer Feed and Protect on the top of the soil. My problem is that it has not bloomed. I looks healthy to me. Is there anything that you would suggest that I do in the Fall to promote growth and blooming for next year? I have thought about digging away some of the soil and adding some peat and better soil and fertilizer. Help!

-- Linda


Anne's Response:

Crape Myrtles seem to do well in unamended soil so if the plant leafed out this spring and seems generally healthy I would not worry about the blooming. It sometimes takes a year or so for the root systems to develop on a large transplant and plants often postpone blooming until a root system develops. You may find that the combination of crepe myrtle and azaleas is not that beneficial to the azaleas. The azaleas need more shade than crape myrtles provide in winter and crape myrtles are not that happy with supplemental watering in a dry fall when azaleas may need more water to produce good blooms in the spring.