SMALL CANOPY TREE; SOMETIMES CALLED LILAC OF THE SOUTH

Species: Lagerstroemia x 'Tuscarora’

Categories: Small Canopy; Non-Native; Flowering; Drought Tolerant, Deciduous, Ornamental

Plant Size: 1.5” diameter trunk

Mature Height: 15-25 feet

Growth Rate: Fast; 16-24”/year

Sunlight: Full Sun to Part-Shade

Type: Multi-Stem

Drought & Heat Tolerant: Definitely

Strength: Small Strong Tree

Urban Hardy Tree: Definitely

Description: Key ornamental features include long bloom period, exfoliating bark and superb fall color, so there’s lots to like about the Crape Myrtle ‘Tuscarora’. It’s a great street tree or space filler for that small patch of yard.

Special Growing Considerations: This tree is a great space filler. You can plant these trees in tight dense aligned rows for an elegant landscape display or just have one in the corner of the yard. They are a pretty easy tree to grow with no special soil or watering considerations. Please do not butcher your Crape Myrtles, what folks often refer to as “Crape Murder”, which is when Crape Myrtles are cut back or topped in extreme ways. Doing this will only shorten the life of your tree and create more maintenance and mess for you to clean up in the years afterward.

A sudden hard freeze in the fall may cause upper branches of this tree to die back. It will look dead but it will come back from its lower branches or if it was a severe freeze, it will come back from the base of the tree.

Attributes: Small Tree, Deciduous, Flowering, Drought Tolerant, Non-Native, Ornamental, Fast Growing

Mono-Culture Risk: Over-planted in Some Areas

Invasive Risk: Moderate to Low