Crepe Myrtle Air Layering

Hey everyone,

I'm new here so I apologize if this is in the wrong place. I am new to bonsai - as in I have a couple trees that are just growing for now while they thicken up.

I'm looking to potentially air layer off of this crepe myrtle but wanted to make sure there was some bonsai potential. I've done air layering before but never for a bonsai project.

There are two different branches that need to be removed and am curious if y'all see any potential in them?

Branch 1 is the first four pictures. Picture 3 looks to me like there's quite a bit of potential, but again I am a complete beginner with this.

Branch 2 are the last 3 pictures. The very last picture looks like there is some potential, it is a little harder to reach though.

Thank y'all in advance. I would love to do something with these limbs instead of them just getting hacked off!

Don't leave yourself a long, straight piece above the air layer. Layer them closer to the branching points....maybe even farther out toward finer branching than you show here. They layer easily and quickly in my experience.

Would be helpful to include your general location in your profile. I assume you live someplace pretty warm if you're growing crepe myrtle.

BrianBay9 said:

Don't leave yourself a long, straight piece above the air layer. Layer them closer to the branching points....maybe even farther out toward finer branching than you show here. They layer easily and quickly in my experience.

Would be helpful to include your general location in your profile. I assume you live someplace pretty warm if you're growing crepe myrtle.

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Thank you for the pointers - I will go look and see how it looks closer to the end points. I was just trying to get something a little thicker.

I need to finish setting up my profile - I'll get on that! I am in Central Texas, zone 8b.

UncleTrout said:

Thank you for the pointers - I will go look and see how it looks closer to the end points. I was just trying to get something a little thicker.

I need to finish setting up my profile - I'll get on that! I am in Central Texas, zone 8b.

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Thicker is always fun. Just not much good for bonsai if it's a straight cylinder. Although I'm sure you know that these guys will throw out limbs all over the place.

Yeah crepes should layer super fast as you can technically do log size cuttings with no trouble. Try angling the bottom of the layer to give yourself a little movement leaving the ground.

BrianBay9 said:

Thicker is always fun. Just not much good for bonsai if it's a straight cylinder. Although I'm sure you know that these guys will throw out limbs all over the place.

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Fair point! Yeah their ability to back bud was what had me thinking you could do something interesting with time. I saw some pictures on wigert's of some crepe myrtles that looked to be short and squat but again, I'm new to this all!

UncleTrout said:

Fair point! Yeah their ability to back bud was what had me thinking you could do something interesting with time. I saw some pictures on wigert's of some crepe myrtles that looked to be short and squat but again, I'm new to this all!

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Yes, but the Wigert material has taper.

They root SO EASILY that I have discarded pieces in my compost pile and they rooted there without any help at all. I would not spend time air layering unless it was a piece that I was super stoked about and wanted to insure I would get it 100%.
The pieces in your pictures lack taper for the most part. I wouldn't discourage from doing it as a learning exercise since you point out you are a beginner (I sure have done that myself) but wouldn't invest too much on that. I have gotten free crepe myrtles from people's yards from the various online classifieds. Something like that might put you further ahead.

Bonsai Turtle said:

They root SO EASILY that I have discarded pieces in my compost pile and they rooted there without any help at all. I would not spend time air layering unless it was a piece that I was super stoked about and wanted to insure I would get it 100%.
The pieces in your pictures lack taper for the most part. I wouldn't discourage from doing it as a learning exercise since you point out you are a beginner (I sure have done that myself) but wouldn't invest too much on that. I have gotten free crepe myrtles from people's yards from the various online classifieds. Something like that might put you further ahead.

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Thanks for the advice! I will try with cuttings for now and put my time towards a better air layer opportunity