Are your Crape Myrtles shedding bark?
Crape Myrtles are popular all across in the Piedmont Triad adding color and beauty to lawns everywhere. Which is why every year, the calls will roll-in from concerned homeowners about the bark shedding or peeling off these trees.
Here’s a short article from NCSU – Associate Professor, Dr. Steven Frank on this very topic.
Every year around this time I get calls and emails from homeowners and landscapers who notice bark peeling off crape myrtles and accumulating around trees. This causes great concern because for most tree species shedding bark is very bad.
For crape myrtles however, it is completely normal and seems to be in full force right now. I noticed it yesterday when I walked past a Japanese holly hedge that was strewn with strips of crape myrtle bark.
Some crape myrtle varieties seem to shed more bark and in larger pieces than others. The multi-colored patterned bark is one of the attractive features of these trees and I am sure this shedding contributes to those patterns.
In any case, just rake it up and figure it is probably a sign of active growth and a healthy tree.
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As you’ve probably noticed – shedding the outer bark often reveals different shades and colors from tan to rusty brown, which add to the beauty of these trees. You may think it is diseased and be tempted to treat it with a pesticide or anti-fungal treatment. Please leave it alone – just clean-up the bark pieces to retain a tidy appearance.
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