Located in DFW and the freeze got my two crepe myrtles. They are sprouting from the bottom. Should I just cut them down and they will grow back, or will I need to go get new crepe myrtles?

Someone with more horticultural knowledge than me, are crepe myrtles grafted?

Just cut the dead trunks down to the ground and let the sprouts form a new tree, same as the original.

Let them grow a season then pick 3 of the small trunks and cut back the rest.

Cut all of the spouts except for one. Keep cutting all of them as they regrow, except for the one, and it'll grow back into a tree\shrub fairly quickly(in tree growing terms).

Or what Swampstander said.

I can assure you, you will never have to go buy new crepe myrtles to replace them. You just better hope your wife never wants them removed for something else…

pains me to see that thing so close to your house. if you live there long, you are going to learn to hate that tree

HoseMad said:

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pains me to see that thing so close to your house. if you live there long, you are going to learn to hate that tree

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If it is going to get smoked to the ground every few years it won't be an issue.

On a more serious note, you can pick those things out by color and size now so if whoever picked it did it right it should fit the spot that it is in when grown.

B-1 83 said:

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Someone with more horticultural knowledge than me, are crepe myrtles grafted?

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Commercially produced by rooting summer cuttings.
The multicolored ones you may see are grafted.

Crepe Myrtle's are like jellyfish. Immortal.

Animal Eight 84 said:

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B-1 83 said:

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Someone with more horticultural knowledge than me, are crepe myrtles grafted?

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Commercially produced by rooting summer cuttings.
The multicolored ones you may see are grafted.

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Well then, OP, cut the dead trunks and keep 1-3 sprouts, depending on the shape you eventually want.

D Nauti said:

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HoseMad said:

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pains me to see that thing so close to your house. if you live there long, you are going to learn to hate that tree

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If it is going to get smoked to the ground every few years it won't be an issue.

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sure, as long as you dont mind seeing all the chlorophyll, mildew, and dirt that thing has left now exposed on your white faced brick. or the deformed knuckles that develop from excessive pruning.

HoseMad said:

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pains me to see that thing so close to your house. if you live there long, you are going to learn to hate that tree

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Agree, that's really close.

Stump treatment with remedy will take them out.

Crepe Myrtle's grow from where they are cut. So when you cut some of the sprouts to thin it out and foster trunk growth, seal the ones you cut with tree wound seal.

Also, don't butcher them when you prune them as the tree gets more established. Crepe Murder is not a good thing. I have 4 large ones in my front yard, the only time I trim them is when a branch is too low for me to pass under with the mower or tractor, when I get chutes off the base of the trunk annually, or if a branch breaks after a storm. For a while I trimmed them to thin them out, but they were much smaller then and now I don't bother.

Don't let that thing get established.

NOW is your best chance to get rid of that thing so close to the house. Seriously, lots of headaches with it in that location. Roots, black fungus/scale messing up your white brick appearance, repeated pruning….. etc.

I'm taking out 4 this weekend that I am absolutely fed up with after several years of dealing with them.

I've always had a firm "all must be removed" policy at our houses -- hate those things

This is a very mature one in my hood. If you are going to be in that house for a while, this is potentially what you are looking at.

Wow.