Crape Myrtle street trees

Hibiscus was once the street tree where I lived, but in 2005 they were all ripped out and replaced that same day with Crape Myrtles. Admittedly the Hibiscus had all looked fairly “ratty” and were generally unkempt, but this was probably because, unbeknownst to me and likely the other residents in the street, according to the Darebin council’s Nature strip Planting Policy, “...the resident is responsible for the maintenance and tidy appearance of the nature strip planting...” .

 

I reckon that very few residents maintained their Hibiscus because

a) they had no idea that they were supposed to and

b) they had no idea how to!

While they were ordinary looking, none of the Hibiscus actually looked sick; they were just unloved. Oddly, and quite glaringly, one solitary specimen was left standing.  Did the council workers miss one? Had they been one plant short for the street?

 

8 years later, this is the remaining Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa sinensis) ...not too healthy now! Though I was rapt with the replacement shrubs, I was miffed to still see ONE scruffy Hibiscus remaining. The council told me that they have a policy of retaining healthy trees/shrubs. Hmmm. If the 20 others were “sick”, how had this one specimen miraculously avoided disease?




Lagerstroemia indica - beautiful!

I’d seen Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica) as street trees in Sacramento, California, which has a similar climate to ours. They’d looked amazing - so pretty when pruned to one main trunk; flowered beautifully and had gorgeous patterned bark; great autumn colour and didn’t interfere with overhead wires. They are a great street tree for all these reasons.

But no resident or tenant in my street was any the wiser. They’d no notion that it was their responsibility to care for it. 

 This is not a broad street to start with, and the nature  strips are barely one metre wide: these shrubs have a natural vase-shaped habit, branching very low to the ground (basal branching) and becoming really broad if not pruned to form a single trunk. Having thin bark they are also easily damaged by brush cutters, and should have a protective surround.

So we've a few specimens being maintained which are well-shaped with a single trunk, while others are unkempt with basal branching due to a lack of pruning. Rather than being uniform, they vary hugely in form and size.





Squat with no pruning

These unpruned shrubs will eventually branch well beyond the nature strip: into the roadway and the footpath. After enough people complain about it, the Crape Myrtles will either be cruelly lopped or replaced yet again, putting the streetscape years behind what it should be in terms of aesthetics. 

                                               

                                                                       Tall, single trunk