Just planted a ZUNI this fall, yr photos confirmed this is right variety for me. Thanks for posting!

Any tips for a first-time crape myrtler, or about Zuni in particular? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

The Zuni sure is a beautiful crepe myrtle, and not too big nor too small. It's a great sidewalk cultivar.

My practice is to give them plenty of good fertilizer in the spring and once they start blooming, I quit fertilizing. As for pruning, in the winter after all the leaves are gone, I only lightly prune away the very small stems. Anything bigger than a pencil I leave. I hope your Zuni grows well for you!

Dave, I'm truly sorry for not responding sooner to your thoughtful reply. My family has had a rough few months, but things are finally settling down and getting back to normal. It was nice to learn that the Zuni is so low maintenance! While I love to garden, there's always plenty to keep me busy out there. A fairly carefree tree really fits the ticket. So far it's surviving the winter very well; luckily the temperature has been pretty temperate. Were you affected by all that frigid weather in the SW this past week?

Was wondering appoximately how long the Zuni stays in bloom? Also, what type of fertilizer do you use on it? Yours obviously is thriving, and I''d like to give mine a good start this spring.

Thanks again Dave for the information and good wishes.

Linda

We got and are having the cold weather but that is always expected. We are in zone 8 after all and we always get some freezes every year.

The Zuni blooms for about 3 months for me. I always spread around composted manure around my shrubs and a high N fertilizer early in the spring when it first breaks bud would be a good idea in my opinion.

What a nice long blooming season! I may put the composted manure down this week - I read somewhere that it should be put down on top of soil and allowed to break down over the winter but have yet to try it. I never thought about it for my trees tho, I've been using a Bayer Feed and Protect fertilizer every spring for both my decidious' and evergreens.

As soon as I read your post though, I realized this should have been obvious to me. Duh.

Thanks Dave, I truly appreciate your help... Oh last night I read and loved your article re planning designing... a vegetable garden. I found it to be one of the most comprehensive and innovative article I read on the subjecy in a very long time. I'm looking for to reading some of the other articles you've written.

Thanks Dani! I appreciate the kind words.

Compost right on the surface is generally how I do things for my shrubs. And of course good mulch!