When to move 4-6 inch Crape Myrtle volunteers?

Sheryl S
by Sheryl S
I put in new flower bed edging in this spring and low & behold, I have several volunteers from seed I believe. Do I have to wait until they are older to move them? All the web searches talk about root ball size compared to trunk size. These have trunks that are smaller than a pencil. North Central Texas and it is fall here. Next week it should be in the 80's. Thank you in advance for you response.
  3 answers
  • Elaine Elaine on Oct 03, 2013
    move them as soon as they have green on top. BUT if you want them out of area they are growing, you must use a brush killer or it will continue to come back!
    • Sheryl S Sheryl S on Oct 04, 2013
      @Elaine Thank you for your reply. I think I will try to move them soon. I need them in the front, side of my lawn where a large Bodarc tree fell and is going to be moved soon, I hope. I guess I had been mowing the Crape Myrtles volunteers down until I killed all the grass while putting in a flower bed. Never knew that they would seed like that but glad it did. Hopefully they will survive the move. Again, thank you for your help !!
  • Crape Myrtles have very long roots that can be longer than the longest branch and are very hard to move (I think some spread by runner too. I have been pulling up volunteers for 5 years now! I do not even have the original tree so it is quite frustrating. Your success rate is going to be 50/50 and transplanting can be done anytime this fall and I would do it around the rain. Water is the key to any success. Good luck!
    • Sheryl S Sheryl S on Oct 04, 2013
      @The Garden Frog with C Renee, Thank you for your speedy reply. I hope these little volunteers are from the seed and not connected to the mother tree. I have read that you need to start root pruning months or longer before moving them. We will see. If they die I will be sick. I have been so happy to see them. I had not ever had volunteers before this year. I think I must have been mowing them down or they didn't come up because of the grass shading the seeds. I killed all the grass in that area to put in a flower bed last spring. Well again, thank you for your response. Have a wonderful fall !!
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Oct 04, 2013
    I would try to wait until later in the fall when your seedlings are going dormant. As C Renee says, watering is crucial to successful transplanting.