Crape Myrtle Maintenance

[itguy12]

Hello all. As you can see (sorry for the sideways view), I have a crape myrtle in one of the corners of my front bed. What is the proper pruning technique/strategy for this tree? In the past with other crape myrtles, whenever I prune, new growth seems to happen at the base which is not what I want. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Chuck]

Here in Texas we call prunning crepe myrtles crepe murder. Your tree looks perfect. As the small shoots sprout at the bottom cut them off if you like but these trees like to grow like a big bush.I like to leave four to six seperate trunks. These trees are a little weak wooded and will be damaged in high winds so if one or two is messed up you still have a beautiful tree. Don't cut anything else except the bean pods, and you don't even have to cut them off. They will fall off by themselves later on. I don't know what variety of tree you have but it looks to me that it is planted too close to your house. Varieties of crepe myrtles are everything from 2 1/2' to 30'. If I knew what the name of the tree was I could be a little bit more help

 

[evelynmcgregor]

Here in the South, people tend to do what is referred to as "hat racking." That is extreme pruning and I think it ruins the look of the tree, although it does make it put out more branches around the top to make it thicker and bushier.

 

[Carolyn]

I have one but I'm not sure what variety it is. I would just call it an old fashioned like the forsythia and lilacs that grow around here. It dies back nearly every winter and I usually have to cut off the previous older branches every two or three years. It's too cold for this one and I don't think it will ever look like a full stately Crepe Myrtle I see in the south. The old branches get to looking like yours and do nothing but stand there empty. I tried cutting back the new growth from the bottom one year and all I had was a bunch of dead branches on top. I'm in the Midwest.

 

[Dinu]

This is a long shot of my Crepe Myrtle, which is just over one year old since I bought a small plant. This is the best bloom. I remember to have pruned it last year as I had seen it as a small and thin shrub with blooms. So I too did that to see what happens. It grew a only a couple of branches which went higher and no sign of flowers until last month when I saw a large bunch buds. Their weight made the branch to droop. The leaves are brownish in some places and I think this is natural - having no experience with this before. The CM - see the thin stem next to the stone trough [holding water lily]. Next to the CM is a hibiscus. Leaves were gone in winter.

 

[Paul78]

My Crepe Myrtle just started to leaf out this week...thought it was dead. Only a few branches have leaves so far, but i am glad there are some signs of life. Some branches still look completely lifeless.

We went to -2*F this winter and had a very late freeze, so these factors may have a role in the late leaf out.

Anyone else with Crepe's in northeast seeing a later than normal leaf out?

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Pruning Crape Myrtle Step by Step

 

[DirtMechanic]

If one were to cut down a crepe, to the lawn level, the robust root will not die. Rather shoots will emerge in bushlike fashion. Given desirable flower, this type of shape is interesting.

 

[Meadowlark]

If one were to cut down a crepe, to the lawn level, the robust root will not die. Rather shoots will emerge in bushlike fashion. Given desirable flower, this type of shape is interesting.

This is true. In fact, it is difficult to kill them. I cut down two large ones, covered the trunk with diesel and salt and still am seeing sprouts coming up. Very difficult to kill.