Pruning is a regular part of plant maintenance involving the selective removal of specific plant parts. Trees growing in urban landscapes require pruning to maintain them in a safe and aesthetically pleasing manner. Pruning should be undertaken with an understanding of how trees respond to each cut, as improper pruning can cause damage that could last the life of the tree or shorten the tree’s life expectancy (ISA, 2006).
Pruning wounds plants and the damaged areas are covered by wound wood tissue. Plant wounds do not heal they are sealed. Another response to pruning occurs inside the plant around the wounded area, which involves walling off or compartmentalising the wounds. This process limits any decay that results from wounding, or from natural death of branches.
Pruning can either help or harm a plant according to if, where, when, how, and why it is applied. When properly executed, a variety of benefits can occur. Benefits include reducing risk of branch and stem breakage, improved health and appearance, and increased flowering. Functional benefits of pruning include providing better clearance for vehicles and pedestrians as well as maintaining clearances of structures and reduced litter drop. When improperly performed, pruning can harm the tree’s health, stability, and appearance and can make matters worse (Gilman, 2002).

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Name commemorates Magnus Lagerstroem, Swedish friend of Linnaeus

Origin: South China, Korea, India & Burma.

Habit: Small deciduous tree with ascending branches and multi trunk habit. Generally with broad vase shaped canopy, though some variation occurs. Moderate to slow growing mature dimensions range between 3-6m high x 3-6 m wide in cultivation.

Description: Small oval shaped leaves emerge yellowish-green, bronze to reddish purple in colour, maturing to a medium to dark green. Showy autumnal colour range from yellow to orange and red. Bark is smooth, brown-grey sometimes with an almost metallic lustre, and when sloughed reveals a more mottled brown and grey appearance. Flowers are borne in terminal clusters of branched cymes, colours range from white; pink; purple; lavender to dark red. Fruit is a capsule approximately 1cm long.

Tolerances: Adapts to a range of soils. Moderate to high drought tolerance. Prefers full sun for best flower display. Species is susceptible to powdery mildew, though some hybrids are resistant.

Notes: Requires pruning if single trunk is desired. Good tree with high urban tolerance that can be utilised in a number of different informal and formal landscapes. Good street value and size makes it suitable for use under powerlines.

Hybrids between L. indica and L. fauriei are worth considering due to assured flower colour and resistance to certain pathogens, hybrids include ‘Natchez’ with white flowers, ‘Tuscarora’ with dark coral-pink flowers and ‘Biloxi’ with pale pink flowers.

Root space: Based on mature size tree would require approximately 28m2 area or 17m3 root volume (Crown projection method).

Availability: Species is common. Numbers can be limited on hybrids.

Ref: Gilman, E. F. (1997) Trees for urban and suburban landscapes. Delmar. Spencer, R. (2002) Horticultural flora of South-eastern Australia. Flowering Plants - Dicotyledons Part 2. UNSW Press