Need help to shape my Crepe Myrtle

[quda]

Hello,

I have a young Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) looking now like this:

It is about 8 yrs old, never trimmed, never adjusted, never pruned.

The idea is that I want to prune and trim it to help it develop it into this:

How to do it?

Thanks in advance,
Q.T.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Plant a multiple for a broader base. I spied this at our dog groomer location. Its a hard pruning of multiple trunks.

 

[DirtMechanic]

These pics are from southern livings' grumpy gardener. You don't want to create a growth knuckle where you have cut every year. Your plant looks to be one of the new dwarf crepes. You will prune very little I imagine. Keep it well fertilized.

 

[Meadowlark]

After it goes dormant this winter, trim it just like the picture you want it to develop into...that is prune to where you want the limbs to be larger. Don't worry about adding multiple trunks...the plant will add those naturally, in fact you already have several. Each succeeding year, prune again to where you want the large branches.

Something like this or higher if you prefer:

 

[quda]

Is it the right moment to do this pruning now ? Here it is a mild weather now, with 5-12°C but frost and snow storm are expected towards the end of the month.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Wait for the temperature inflection, where your multi year average begins to trend up after having trended down toward winter. This is in the climate data for your area. Here in Birmingham Alabama it is mid January. After that we may well have cold snaps but generally everything begins the slow development for spring blooming.

 

[quda]

Even though I adjusted in winter (as advised), the plant doesn't seem to grow properly. You can see it's growing upwards, chaotically, instead of developing like a tree.
Pics with the current state:

The goal was to shape it like this:

What can I do more ?

 

[DirtMechanic]

Wait for it to grow as measured by the diameter of the trunk. As it becomes thicker the branches too will become thicker. You will annually prune the shape in the dormant season. Like bonzai really, studying the form.

What you are not seeing in the desired picture is where that plant has been trimmed back annually. Those nodes are obscured by leaves but the thickness of the branches relative to the overall habit is a giveaway that annual crepe murder is being committed in a very nice looking way.

Pictures of a wintertime dormancy would show the trim points. Please do not compare your plant to the picture yet. It is not that old yet.

Trim your Crape Myrtles like a pro. Don

Learn how to prune Crape Myrtles like a pro. Avoid common mistakes and keep your trees looking their best.

www.yourgreenpal.com

 

[quda]

Wait for it to grow as measured by the diameter of the trunk. As it becomes thicker the branches too will become thicker. You will annually prune the shape in the dormant season. Like bonzai really, studying the form.

What you are not seeing in the desired picture is where that plant has been trimmed back annually. Those nodes are obscured by leaves but the thickness of the branches relative to the overall habit is a giveaway that annual crepe murder is being committed in a very nice looking way.

Pictures of a wintertime dormancy would show the trim points. Please do not compare your plant to the picture yet. It is not that old yet.

Trim your Crape Myrtles like a pro. Don

Learn how to prune Crape Myrtles like a pro. Avoid common mistakes and keep your trees looking their best.

www.yourgreenpal.com

Just to clarify: should I make the pruning every winter as originally advised here?
At the same levels ?

 

[DirtMechanic]

Just to clarify: should I make the pruning every winter as originally advised here?
At the same levels ?

Let me reverse your thinking, as no plant responds to rules. Rather we respond to the plant. It will tell you, rather than you telling it, how it wants to grow. So in one way yes, you will come up the branch to the first fork and cause triimming on at least two branches that in the spring will each lead to new growth which in the turning seasons will themselves be pruned. Look at the general form of the pics in the link I sent. They are not making a ball or a box but rather a vertically streched ovoid shape. A wider base is not shaded by foilage above and thus stays lush unlike a ball shape which will create a shadow below.

 

[oneeye]

I prune my mine in the Winter only. I don't top them I will remove the whole stem and regrow a new stem in its plants if it's top heavy.

 

[quda]

... I don't top them I will remove the whole stem and regrow a new stem in its plants if it's top heavy.

I don't understand what you mean by this. (Sorry...not an English native speaker)

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Pruning Crepe Myrtles in the Summer

 

[oneeye]

I don't understand what you mean by this. (Sorry...not an English native speaker)

Crepe Myrtles can be cut to the ground in late Winter and regrow new stems in Spring. I pick the most healthy strongest stem out of the new growth. After a few years, the new stem will turn into a strong Crepe Myrtle plant. .