UTC shrinks as crape myrtles begin to dominate city's public tree population; Jefferson, GA

Crape myrtles rule Jefferson landscape News OnlineAthens.com:
JEFFERSON - The crape myrtles are multiplying.
It's been happening slowly, but people who count trees know that the crape myrtle is on its way to tree dominance.
A recent survey of the trees in Jefferson's city parks and on its roadside rights of way revealed that about 33 percent of the town's trees are crape myrtles - a product of recent residential growth and the popularity of the trees among developers and landscapers.
'It's something that homeowners are familiar with, and it's easy to find them,' said Andrew Saunders, an arborist with Forest Resource Solutions. 'There's nothing wrong with crape myrtles, but we would prefer to see crape myrtles make up no more than 10 percent of the total number of trees.'