Crape Myrtles can grow very tall and wide, especially if you get a large variety. But what about their root systems? These trees are mainstays across plenty of landscapes, but you may be wondering if they pose a risk of damage to your home, yard, or foundation.
Crape Myrtle roots are non-invasive and don’t pose a damage risk to your home, foundation, or sewer lines. Their roots are fibrous and shallow, and they tend to spread wider rather than deeper. However, Crapes can leave a mess on patios and driveways, and you don’t want them next to your pool or over your roof.
In this article, we’ll discuss whether Crape Myrtle roots can cause you trouble and how close you can plant these beauties to your home, foundation, and other structures. We’ll also discuss what kind of mess these bloomers will make each summer.
Can Crape Myrtle Roots Damage Pipes or Foundations?
Whenever you add a tree or shrub to your landscape, one thing to consider is what the root system will do. Some trees have strong roots that have the potential to break concrete, destroy pipes, and disturb your home’s foundation. If you’re wondering if Crape Myrtles can damage pipes and foundations, the answer is that it would be very unlikely.
Crape Myrtles have fibrous root systems that spread wide and shallow. Even though they tend to hang out closer to the surface than other trees and shrubs, Crape Myrtle roots don’t typically damage sidewalks or driveways. That’s why you see them lining sidewalks and parking lots so frequently.
Even though their roots spread wide, they aren’t strong enough to damage your foundation. So, you can plant Crape Myrtles near your home without worrying too much. However, it’s always a good idea to leave some space between your house and any tree or shrub, mostly for pest prevention and to keep leaves off your roof and out of gutters.
These trees also don’t have big, anchoring taproots shooting down into the ground, so you don’t have to worry about them breaking pipes or sewer lines. However, any tree or plant has the potential to clog an already damaged pipe or septic system line. If there’s a crack or other damage to a pipe, roots can make their way into the opening and continue to grow.
This could cause a significant clog you’ll have to deal with eventually, but it’s not really your Crape Myrtle’s fault. Their roots won’t go looking for trouble or cause damage that wasn’t already there.
Do Crape Myrtles Have Deep or Invasive Roots?
Crape Myrtles don’t have deep or invasive roots. Their roots are shallow and non-invasive. They won’t aggressively grow into areas where they shouldn’t be. However, their root system can grow very wide – up to three times wider than the tree’s canopy. So if you have a 30-foot Crape Myrtle, its roots will extend quite far out into your landscape.
This widespread root system won’t normally cause property damage or strangle out your other nearby shrubs and plants, but your Crape’s shallow root system will compete for nutrients and water in the soil. It’s normally only a problem for anything planted very close to the tree, like underneath the canopy.
That’s why it’s a good idea to remove turf grass from around your tree’s base when you plant it. While the Crape Myrtle is small, turf and grass will have the advantage and put strain on your tree as it tries to grow. But a mature Crape Myrtle will have the opposite effect and may kill off surrounding ground covering.
However, there are plenty of plants that do well growing near your Crape Myrtle if you want to have some ground-level accents. You can read more about companion plants for your Crape in this article.
Keep in mind that while Crape Myrtles don’t have invasive roots, they do reproduce pretty aggressively. Whether it’s through shoots and suckers or through dropping seed pods onto the ground, you’ll have plenty of baby Crapes to deal with the longer you have the tree. It’s important to remove these when they start sprouting, so you don’t end up with overcrowded bunches of Crape Myrtles.
Is Crape Myrtle Messy? Will it Stain a Driveway or a Car?
Crape Myrtles put on beautiful displays each summer with an explosion of colorful blooms. Still, those soft, paper-like blossoms eventually die off and fall, causing a mess below. Some varieties can even bloom for up to 100 days out of the year, plus the 30 days in fall that these trees drop leaves. That’s a lot of cleanup if you don’t plant your tree in the right location.
Choosing the perfect place to plant a new Crape Myrtle is critical. If you plant it next to a driveway, deck, porch, or sidewalk, just know you’ll be dealing with the barrage of blossom petals falling all over for months.
Worse, if they fall onto your car, grill, patio furniture, or anything else and you don’t remove the petals fast enough, you’ll be stuck with an icky brown outline that’s a real pain to get off. In some cases, debris from your Crape Myrtle can stain your car if you don’t clean it off right away.
And if your tree becomes infected with one of the common ailments like Cercospora leaf spot or black sooty mold, you’ll have even more leaves falling off that you’ll need to blow or sweep off your driveway or deck. And don’t even think about planting one of these beauties next to your pool. You’ll be swimming in flower petals all summer or spending hours with a skimmer in hand – neither of which is something you’ll want to do.
How Close Can You Plant a Crape Myrtle to Your House?
If you want to plant a Crape Myrtle near your house, it’s safe to do so within reason. The roots won’t damage your foundation but it’s always a good idea to leave some distance between a tree and your home.
For one, you don’t want to provide a bridge for pests to climb onto your roof and into your soffits and gutters. Another consideration is the ammount of leaves and flowers that will fall off your Crape Myrtle. If the tree gets big enough and grows over the top of your roof, you’ll have to clean all that debris off your house and blow it out of your gutters.
You can avoid some of that hassle by leaving several feet between your home and your Crape Myrtle. Depending on how big the tree will get at maturity, you may want to go out a little farther. Dwarf and miniature varieties don’t get tall enough to go over the top of your house, so you can plant those a lot closer. Remember, the concern isn’t the root system; it’s what will fall off the tree later on.
Plus, you don’t want tree limbs growing into the side of your house that you’ll have to use a ladder to cut back. Less is more when pruning your Crape Myrtle so you don’t want to have to do more cutting than required.
Putting It All Together
Depending on where you live, your landscape might look out of place if you don’t have a Crape Myrtle or two. Whether you’re planting one for the first time or adding another, you don’t need to worry too much about what the tree’s roots will do.
Crape Myrtles don’t have aggressive or invasive roots, so they aren’t known to be harmful to foundations, concrete, or pipes. The only thing you need to consider is what will be underneath the tree when it reaches maturity. Remember, what goes up must come down, so that barrage of blooms will eventually fall off when summer starts winding down.
You don’t want your car, patio, or pool to get covered in Crape Myrtle blooms that you’ll have to clean off. If you leave them in place too long, they’ll cause staining, which can be a pain to clean. So it’s best to avoid that whenever possible.