Hello! I have a Catawba Crape Myrtle in zone 7/8 (Baltimore, MD.) The branches have already leafed out nicely except for the tips. The final 4" or so of most of the branches looks dry and dead and has no leaves and no buds. The ends of the branches easily snap off between my fingers. What could have caused this? Is this normal? Should I prune off the dead tips or wait to see if they leaf out, too? The rest of the tree besides the tips of the branches looks healthy.

I am growing the crape myrtle in a very large wooden whisky barrel container which is about 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep. When I purchased it last year, the nursery told me to free up the roots from the outside of the root ball a bit with a cultivator before planting it, as it had become somewhat root bound in the size 5 or 6 nursery pot it came in.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

This does not sound concerning but without an image, the discussion is theoretical.

If the ground freezes where you are, you are in Z7.

Here are some pictures I just snapped.

What a lovely garden! That little maple tree is wonderful! Being on an urban roof, with heat radiating from the building and city in general, it probably is safe to say you are in a little Z8 micro-climate.

The dead ends look fine and normal, yes I would trim those off.

Were the leaves this same bright color when you got it?

I think the dead tops of the stems are due to winter damage, which is not uncommon in crepe myrtles.Just carefully prune off the dead parts. I just ove the way that garden is set out! Stunning!

purpleinopp said:What a lovely garden! That little maple tree is wonderful! Being on an urban roof, with heat radiating from the building and city in general, it probably is safe to say you are in a little Z8 micro-climate.

The dead ends look fine and normal, yes I would trim those off.

Were the leaves this same bright color when you got it?

Thank you! No, the leaves were deep glossy green when I purchased it. The leaves just emerged 2-3 days ago and have been getting bigger and darker each day, so I suspect that it may be because they are still new. I hope my little crape myrtle is OK! I will trim the ends a little and try not to worry based on the replies : ) Thanks everyone!

New foliage from Crape Myrtles tend to be either that kind of bright green or a brownish/sand-ish color depending on the variety.

I would not worry about tips that do not leaf out. My CM trees are about 30-40 years old and they are so tall I cannot reach the top and thus, they do not get pruned when there is any winter damage. But I do try to prune branches if there is ever one damaged by winds/storms.

Crepe Myrtles are listed for Zone 7a and higher but even in Florida zone 9, Crepe Myrtles sometimes have dry, brittle tips from cooler to cold winter temps.

You can prune off the dead, brittle tips and stems of your Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica 'Catawba')

Holly, that sounds good. If the color does not return to normal, a dose of fertilizer according to the package directions should help.

I don't think I've ever had a crepe myrtle that DIDN'T come back in spring without the tips of branches being bare. I think the tips just die off in the winter naturally. In fact, my father always told me to expressly cut off 1/4 the length of ALL branches (on younger crepes) BEFORE they releaf, to bring about 2-3 branches (and blooms) where there was just one before. This approach will have your tree blooming more and more each year. I have a baby Catawba down at our rural cabin (just 2' tall) and I already did this the first year, resulting in double the blooms and branches this year. Will continue to do this each February as is my practice. I have done this with all my crepes since my father's advice and people do comment on how prolifically my crepes bloom. Many people NEVER prune crepe myrtles, but it has been my experience with friends' crepes, if you don't prune a bit off the branches annually, the trees just get taller and taller, but bloom less and less over time.