Herbicide That Kills Crape Myrtle

 

Crape myrtles are known as low-maintenance trees that comes with showy pink blossoms and attractive peeling bark. It can also be found in tree and shrub forms used for landscapes or as an ornamental landscape tree. The Crape myrtles provides you with abundant of flowers that spreads like canopy making it a nice addition to have in your home garden. However, as the crape myrtle trees grow older, you will find that it can develop and create quite a number of problems. Some of the tree decline and create persistent infestations and diseases. Apart from that, it can also grow too abundantly and send up shoot to your surrounding garden or yard. No matter what the problem that relates to the crape myrtle tree, you can rectify it using a few types of herbicides.

What you need to know about herbicide that kills Crape Myrtle:

  • Oil-Soluble Herbicide
  • Systemic Herbicide
  • The best time to apply Herbicide

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Herbicide That Kills Crape Myrtle

  • The most ideal type of herbicides for you to use in killing crape myrtles is the oil-soluble herbicides especially for trunks that is smaller than 6-inch in diameter.
    • The oil-soluble herbicides have oil that is capable of allowing the chemicals to penetrate way beyond the waxy protective layer on the crape myrtle’s bark.
    • It will continue to travel within the crape myrtle’s roots before it kills the plant from inside and out.

It is recommended by horticulturalists to use oil-soluble herbicides such as Pathfinder II, Remedy as well as other pre-mixed herbicide that comes with an oil carrier.

  • Another type of herbicide is the Systemic herbicides which provide you with efficient control the crape myrtle trees by attacking the plant’s roots.
    • The herbicide can only penetrate the plant through its vascular system for example it must be introduced to the plant’s interior via a wound or cut but not through the Crape Myrtles bark.

It is recommended by horticulturalists from the Penn State to use Systemic herbicides that contain 2, 4-D, Glyphosate, Imazapyr or Dicamba.

  • The most suitable time to apply herbicide onto the crape myrtle is during its growing season that normally falls between spring and early fall.
    • When the plant is growing actively, it will have lots of nutrients and water traveling through its vascular system that is also the same channels for both the oil-based and systemic herbicides travel within the plant.
    • When the plants are dormant especially during cold climate, it would be very difficult for the herbicide to travel through the plant’s vascular system.
    • One season might not be enough to kill the crape myrtle. If that happened, you need to wait until the spring season arrives to continue your task.
  • The most easiest herbicides to apply is the Oil-based herbicides
    • You can simply spray it over the bottom 12 to 18 inches of each of the crate myrtle’s trunks
    • For further information, you can follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the herbicides.

    Always remember that if you decide to use Systemic herbicides,

    • You need to penetrate the herbicides directly to the crape myrtle’s interior. The best method is by cutting the plant trunks down and then applies the herbicides directly to the surface of the plant that you have cut by using a paint brush immediately.
    • It is best to apply this method within 30 seconds in order for you to kill the crape myrtle.
    • Besides that, you can also kill sprouts coming from the crape myrtle by using the Systemic herbicides. All you need to do is to paint or spray the herbicides onto the sprouts immediately after you notice their existence.

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