Relocating crepe mertle
A local school put in a new parking lot and let people remove the existing crepe mertles. I removed several and immediately replanted them within a few hours. One of them has not responded with new growth as the others have. It is still green when I scrape a small area of bark away so I am keeping hope alive. Any suggestion on fertlizing, watering, mulching, etc?
Obviously the parking lot was done in the summer with school out, right? The proper time to transplant greenery is in the winter when it is dormant, sooooo, it may have bled to death, or gone into dormant shock. If it is staying green, good, as it may come back in the spring. Just keep an eye on it. You will want to fertilize it according to what your soil is now. Have you had the soil tested for mineral content, yet? It is always a good idea to have a test run to see if you need lime, etc. If you mulch it, do so at least 6″ from the base and out to the drip line, which in your case may not be much, yet. I would worry more about the ones with new growth, since they are prematurely starting to grow in the wrong season. Survival mode. You can tell more in spring. Keep them mulched and watered and let us know how it goes.
