Italian Cypress R&R With Crepe Myrtle

[Stumpy]

I would like to remove 4 Italian Cypress with Crepe Myrtles along a walkway leading to my home.
What is the best method to remove the Italian Cypress stumps and how soon can I plant the Crepe Myrtles?

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I would like to remove 4 Italian Cypress with Crepe Myrtles along a walkway leading to my home.
What is the best method to remove the Italian Cypress stumps and how soon can I plant the Crepe Myrtles?

Welcome to AS. Could you do us a favor and read your post and see how you would answer your question? There isn't much information there to go on... and pictures would be helpful as well... the more information we have the better we can help.

 

[Stumpy]

Welcome to AS. Could you do us a favor and read your post and see how you would answer your question? There isn't much information there to go on... and pictures would be helpful as well... the more information we have the better we can help.

Thanks for your reply. I should have been more mindful about providing enough information to answer my question.
The Italian Cypress trees in question are almost 20 years old, with the largest two trunks about 12" in diameter when measured 6" above grade.
The two most important trees are located in a wide spot in the rock-bed, so It is important that we are able to plant near the same location after the current trees are removed. Most Italian Cypress in DFW look stressed like ours, so we would like to replace them with something more capable of tolerating our hot summers, thus out choice of Crepe Myrtles. My large concern is how to remove enough of the Cypress stump and roots to allow planting of their replacements. I'm concerned that we may need to just leave the Cypress stumps cut-off at grade and covered with rocks, as the we've removed others and the Cypress stumps seem to last for decades without much decay.
Thanks for reading.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Thanks for your reply. I should have been more mindful about providing enough information to answer my question.
The Italian Cypress trees in question are almost 20 years old, with the largest two trunks about 12" in diameter when measured 6" above grade.
The two most important trees are located in a wide spot in the rock-bed, so It is important that we are able to plant near the same location after the current trees are removed. Most Italian Cypress in DFW look stressed like ours, so we would like to replace them with something more capable of tolerating our hot summers, thus out choice of Crepe Myrtles. My large concern is how to remove enough of the Cypress stump and roots to allow planting of their replacements. I'm concerned that we may need to just leave the Cypress stumps cut-off at grade and covered with rocks, as the we've removed others and the Cypress stumps seem to last for decades without much decay.
Thanks for reading.

Much better. Looking at the pics, I would agree that the logical location for your Crepe myrtles is pretty much exactly where your Cypress are, given your landscape border design. The 2 most practical options are grinding the stumps, or leaving a high ( 4' +) stump, and using a mini excavator to pry them out of the ground. With either method a considerable amount of your river rock will need to be moved and replaced.
My preferred method of the two would be the mini ex method. I would find a reputable tree company, have them do the removal, leaving the high stumps, and then leave it to the landscaping company to remove the stumps at the time of planting, holding them responsible for the final result, i.e. any irrigation damage, turf repair, replacement of rocks, etc. The removals look pretty straightforward, so if you can find a landscape company that does tree work as well, so much the better. Stump grinding in this case given the pristine condition of your lawn will probably be a messier option, and quite frankly finding a grinding service willing to move the rock and keep the mess to a minimum could prove to be challenging. Hope this helps.

 

[J D]

I have a stump grinding auger that goes on the auger drive on my mini excavator. It's like a giant forstner bit with a screw in the centre to locate it & you can drill a stump out a bit at a time. It's about 10" diameter so would pretty much take out those stumps in 1 go.
I'd see if you can find someone local with something similar, or maybe someone with a mini excavator & auger that would be prepared to do the job for free if you purchase the grinding attachment for them.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I have a stump grinding auger that goes on the auger drive on my mini excavator. It's like a giant forstner bit with a screw in the centre to locate it & you can drill a stump out a bit at a time. It's about 10" diameter so would pretty much take out those stumps in 1 go.
I'd see if you can find someone local with something similar, or maybe someone with a mini excavator & auger that would be prepared to do the job for free if you purchase the grinding attachment for them.
View attachment 1199695

That's too small a hole to plant a decent sized Crepe myrtle in.

 

[J D]

Hadn't considered that... even so, once the majority of the centre is removed the remainder should be easy enough to hack out with an axe &/or the excavator. I would be very cautious trying to pry the stump out whole as it may damage the concrete edging

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Hadn't considered that... even so, once the majority of the centre is removed the remainder should be easy enough to hack out with an axe &/or the excavator. I would be very cautious trying to pry the stump out whole as it may damage the concrete edging

Not those Cypress. Having worn both hats, this is really more of a landscaping job than an arborist job, in my eyes.

 

[Slicksty6]

One of the reasons they may not be doing so well is due to the heat sink created from the rock. Trees much prefer an organic material over the roots like bark mulch or wood chips. I’m not saying remove all rocks just those over the trees root system.

 

[Del_]

I believe that crepe myrtles are going to be to wide for that planting design and need a lot of pruning to be kept out of the walkway.

Look into cultivars with that in mind.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

I believe that crepe myrtles are going to be to wide for that planting design and need a lot of pruning to be kept out of the walkway.

Look into cultivars with that in mind.

Exactly what I was going to say.
Also agree with the rock removal suggestion.

 

[dboyd351]

Agree with Del
Crepe myrtles love to spread out and throw out multiple leaders, plus they shed bark regularly.
If it were me I would try to improve the health of the existing cypresses. They look like nearly the ideal tree form for that location.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Although... I noticed a row of crepe myrtles beside the Methodis church in town today... They are mature trees with a full canopy and smooth bare trunks, all branches removed at least 6' up.
They were on one side of a sidewalk. Looked very nice.

Similar to this

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Although... I noticed a row of crepe myrtles beside the Methodis church in town today... They are mature trees with a full canopy and smooth bare trunks, all branches removed at least 6' up.
They were on one side of a sidewalk. Looked very nice.

Similar to this
View attachment 1200716

Yeah, I've always found them pretty easy to manage and keep compact... they are a streetscape staple in the south...

 

[RCamo]

We have sold many hundreds of Crepe Myrtles through our nursery and they are beautiful, durable, and easy keepers. That being said, there are many different cultivars so you want to pick one that will 'fit your space'. For example the Natchez that are common here have lovely cinnamon colored peeling trunks with white blooms that are very popular but they will grow to 25-35' tall with a large canopy. On the other hand there is Tuscarora which typically grows 15-20' with salmon red blooms but has more of a vase shape/habit to fit in a smaller area. All that to say that there are many different cultivars and sizes from miniature, dwarf, medium, and standard sizes. One of my pet peeves is seeing people performing "crepe murder" because they chose something too big for the location. Here is a link to a guide that may help you to decide if that's what you want. https://www.southernliving.com/crepe-myrtle-varieties-6830247