The red leaves are most likely a sign of stress. Could it be disease? - That's possible, but unlikely if they were in good shape when you got them. Lack of nutrients? - Nope, forget that one. Watering every day? - Should only be done if you have very very sharply draining soil. You really need to test soil moisture (down a few inches below the surface) to determine when to water. Longer (deeper), less frequent watering is much better than shorter (quick), frequent watering. Post some pictures AND tell us about how your crapes were planted (especially details about planting depth, root preparation, and soil amendments used). The link below may also be helpful with future planting endeavors. Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub

What you described about the multiple branches radiating around the trunk, just below where the trunk has been top cut, is a typical growth pattern for such drastic top pruning. All too often growers have already done such pruning to larger crape myrtles when they are shipped to the retail nurseries. Did your area get the recent days' hard freeze around the Easter holiday? If so the CM in question might have a lot of dead wood which needs to be pruned out. If such a freeze happened, watch the tree as its remaining buds leaf out again. Once the tree appears to be fully leafing out enough to look recovered from any winter or freeze damage; totally remove any trunks or branches which fail to releaf. Also from the trunks nearest your house, completely remove all the way to the trunk any branches in the canopy which you can clearly tell will grow to infringe on your roof. Throughout the following growing seasons feed the tree with slow release quality food, and after every week which fails to provide an inch of rain for the shrub, suppliment the tree with that much water. Over the summer let the tree bloom naturally, and do not prune off the resulting seeds in an effort to extend your bloom season to the first freeze of late fall or early winter. By letting the tree bloom by itself and by being patient if it seems to slow down in bloom presentation after the first bloom flush; the tree will be enabled to put forth effort into thickening its branches and developing its proper rooting perportions. After the tree goes dormant, depending on when temps drop low enough for that, consider the space which any branching from the trunks still invade your roof line. cut, at that time, each trunk, all the way down to the root ball, whose canopy clearly will grow to infringe on your roof line. Hopefully when you have accomplished all the above pruning you will end up with the best of either a one or three main leader trunks. Then, in early march of the next year, prune out again all brittle dead wood, brake off the remaining seed pods and their twigs. Then turn your focus onto any remaining radiating branches which are growing just beneath the previously described, chopped off trunks. Preserve only a flexible and clearly healthy branch which grows the most directly upward and toward the direction where you want the trunk to continue growing. Prune away any other branches which are growing around the trunk near the same level of the healthy upward growing branch you selected to retain. To repeat: the one branch you choose to keep growing off the end of such chopped off trunks should be the one out of the ratiating bunches which appeares to be growing most upright, and growing in the right direction for the retained branch to assume the role of developing into a continuation of the trunk. Hopefully each single branch you select to continue the remaining trunks are thick enough to survive the following winter freezes. If not you will need to wrap each and their tunks with cotton insulator wrap prior to each freeze. If the temps are forecast to drop down to a hard freeze than add bubble wrap around the cotton wrap. Just be sure to remove the plastic bubble wrap any time the temps rise back up above 33 F. degrees. The above advised action takes a lot of dilligent effort, so if you do not think the tree is worth the trouble, simply remove it, grind the stump and main roots and purchase a 10 to 15 gallon sized, 25 to 30 feet potential height grower Crape Myrtle which has not also already been such drastically top pruned-down by the grower. With any such new CM tree you plant in the area, make certain to plant it far enough from the house to prevent roof damage, and to also prune train it properly each year just as you first described above.

I am not sure of the exact protocol for rooting CM suckers, but I think you need a bit of root or a 'heel' - a tag-end of bark/branch/root left where you pulled/cut the piece off the base. Dip the end of that in some rooting powder (or not, but it can make it easier) and the stick it down into a hole (made with a pencil or such) in damp, very well-draining potting mix, press the hole closed around the base, put a plastic bag loosely over the whole thing and leave it in a shady spot for a few days. Water if it seems dry, gently, and remove the bag for a while if it seems too wet. After about 2 weeks, the bag can go altogether. It can take up to 6 weeks to get any root growth, so be patient. Oh yeah, you want to take the cutting from a semi-hard shoot that isn't flowering, about 4-6" long, cut off leaves up to the top 2, and cut them in half, so there is little that needs to grow/be green while new roots grow. I would take several cuttings, because, most likely, about half won't strike for you. In general for removing suckers, if they are coming from the trunk, it's easiest to rub them off as soon as you see them. If you have not, and they are only a few inches long, then also rub them off, and if they are very tall - the usual time for me, I have to admit - then try to break them off at the base. If you cut them, you will get multiple sprouts from the cut surface, but if that is what you can do, do it. If the suckers are from roots, the same applies, but see if you can dig down and break them off, since they are, if possible, even more prone to make multiple sprouts from cut surfaces! It's a LOT easier to rub off/cut a clearly seen sucker, and it dulls your clippers less (if you are cutting them). If branches cross, then look to see which one does the most for the over-all shape of the tree, and take the other, back to the trunk or to its origin. If it's a large branch that needs to come off, then make the first cut a couple of inches deep, or less than halfway through, at the bottom of the branch, a few inches out from the trunk, then cut the branch off , cutting from the top, beyond that, leaving a stub. Last of all, cut the stub off. This will prevent the weight of the branch from breaking it off before you finish and stripping off a section of bark. Hope this is helpful information, and not confusing.

Well....after looking at more pictures online and talking to my wife, I think we've determined a Natchez variety will be too much for our front yard. The height doesn't worry me so much....it's the wide canopy spread. I'm afraid it will make the ground around it too shaded, and will kill off the Bermuda grass. This happened near our pear tree, and since the ground is already sloping down, it has caused erosion issues. So now I'm steering more towards an upright growing Crape.....I have been looking at Tuscarora or Miami....I am also looking at Sarah's Favorite. It's so hard to tell what information to trust, because if I look at 10 different sites describing the different varieties of Crape Myrtles, none of them will be consistent as far as how tall/wide a tree will get. I had one site say Sarah's Favorite doesn't shed bark, but others say it does. I really had my heart set on a white flowering variety, but it seems like Natchez or Sarah's Favorite are my only choices for the size of tree I want.....I can't seem to find Byer's White anywhere online.