Watched a crepe myrtle bounce back in 6 weeks after I finally cut the girdling roots

Jake Bell · 2026-10-12T14:50:04.393109+00:00

I planted a crepe myrtle at my place in Raleigh back in 2019 and it just sat there for two seasons, barely putting on any growth, thin canopy, the works. Last spring I dug around the base and found the nursery rope still tied in a loop around the trunk, choking it off the whole time. I cut it out, backfilled with some compost, and within 6 weeks it pushed out new shoots all along the trunk and the canopy filled in thicker than anything else in the yard. Six years of thinking I had bad soil when it was a 30 second fix I should have caught on day one. Anyone else digging up root flares before they plant now, or do you still trust the nursery pot?

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Watched a crepe myrtle bounce back in 6 weeks after I finally cut the girdling roots | Arborists - Topic Shares