Summer flower, autumn colour and a smooth mottled trunk that looks good bare all winter.
The trunk is the reason. Decades of bark shedding give a crepe myrtle a polished, muscled multi-stem you simply cannot buy young, and they flower on new wood every summer regardless.
Three seasons of interest and a root system polite enough for a driveway or a courtyard. Plant it where you will walk past the trunk.
The one deciduous tree we do want. Frequently planted in 1970s and 80s front gardens and now in the way of a rebuild — a mature multi-stem is well worth the phone call.
Best moved while dormant, late autumn to winter
Send us the address and a photo of where you're thinking. We'll tell you honestly whether it'll work before anyone talks about money.