Advise Needed for Newly Planted Crepe Myrtle

[jkrueger2020]

Over Thanksgiving, I planted a crepe myrtle tree in my yard and have a concern about how to handle a problem I'm seeing with the tree and would appreciate some advice from those who have experience with crepe myrtles.

As you can see from the photos below, there are 4 main branches coming out of the root ball. Two of those branches, however, were allowed to grow right next to each other and are touching. From my limited research, I've heard that it's not good to allow branches to touch each other as this can potentially allow disease to infest the tree.

My question is, should I allow all 4 branches to live? Or do I need to chop one of the two branches which are touching and if so, do you have a recommendation as to which one I keep?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan

Here are 4 photos from various viewpoints:

 

[Raintree]

Leave it as a clump.

 

[jkrueger2020]

Thanks for the reply. Could you please explain why this is the best option? I certainly would hate to kill one of the trunks, but I'd like to understand why this won't be a problem down the road too.

 

[Raintree]

A few pics of clump Crepes in flower, that's how they look, nice yes?
You can buy single trunk trees if that's your preference, see below.
Why ruin a good four stem plant? You'll just be chasing suckers from the cuts.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Don't think of a crepe myrtle as a tree, think of as a big ass woody shrub, and prune accordingly. They will intertwine, and rub, and be fine.

 

[jkrueger2020]

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate the replies.

 

[treeseer]

The general rule to avoid rubbing does not apply with thin barked shrubs; they are likely to graft.

Your problem may be deep planting; get the mulch off the stems and post a pic of the roots coming off the stems.

 

[jkrueger2020]

The general rule to avoid rubbing does not apply with thin barked shrubs; they are likely to graft.

Your problem may be deep planting; get the mulch off the stems and post a pic of the roots coming off the stems.

There was practically no mulch on there. But I've removed the mulch so you can see the soil / roots as it was when it came out of the pot. The dark soil is the potted soil as soil around here is red clay.

 

[Texas Traveler]

Buying our older home 6 years ago, I thought I would love the 10 grown crepe myrtle bushes along the drive-way to the garage.
All most 20 feet high, it was a love affair that did not last. My thinking they were a tree really compounded the problem.
The trash was unbelievable, here in Texas they bloom all summer & fall. I call them trash producers & it all goes into my small drainage system from
the driveway. Beautiful without a doubt, but it was a painful problem that had to go away.
They were planted as a property boundary between my neighbor & I on my side of the line.
Thinking I would replace them with hedges I told the neighbor what I was thinking & got one bad response.
No do not replace them they make my home look great, well thats not going to get it.
I get the trash & he gets the beauty plus flooding if the drainage stops up.
So I get out my trusty chain saw & start trimming from 20 ft to 8 ft. That stopped 80% of the trash.
The neighbor ? Not a peep, but they do need to be gone from the driveway.
When I say trash I mean trash, it is like taking a stroll through a turkey ranch without hip boots.
You track the blooms into the house no matter how hard you try.