Trimming Crepe Myrtles

[Sunstate Lawn]

I have heard two schools of thought on this. One is that you should cut all the branches back to the stalks, and the other is that you should leave branches on the stalks. :confused:Opinions?

Sunstate

[FIRESCOOBY]

I have heard two schools of thought on this. One is that you should cut all the branches back to the stalks, and the other is that you should leave branches on the stalks. :confused:Opinions?

Sunstate

I'm no expert on pruning at all, so take this for what it's worth. I've done both for various reasons. I think a lot of it depends on what you're trying to achieve and if it has been allowed to grow "unchecked" for some time.

I think many times you might be able to just do some slight selective pruning. Other times it seems like it might be healthier to do some in depth pruning. Like I said, it depends on what look you're trying achieve and the health of the plant.

[Homegrown]

Don't lop the tops off, remove branches smaller than a pencil and any suckers at the base, leaving 3-4 main trunks. google crepe murder:clapping:

[SILVERSTREAK INC]

yeah what are you trying to go for? lower height?

in pruning you look and prune out

damaged branches

diseased branches

dead branches

crossing leaders

while doing this try not to leave too many crows feet, in the crepe myrtle itd be a good idea to use loppers and prune out some of the super large branches down the bottom, maybe one or two (depending how big and established the tree is) by doing this every year or two you can slowly rejunatively prune it out. they also say fert in the spring with straight nitrogen.

[Sunstate Lawn]

I've seen mostly butchering of crepes down here. Usually the stalk and the first fork is left every season. Some of these stalks are 2" at the cut, and it seems really extreme. This is the norm, though. How did this get started? I don't see anyone do any sort of selective pruning on crepes.

[PHS]

How did this get started?

In some parts of the country you tend to get more flowers if you cut them back every year or least they say they do. In farming areas they cut the grape vines way back or the apples a certain way and assume everything should be that way. Senior citizens seem to always want to hack everything back annually and maybe that explains Floridas situation :).

Whatever the reason there is a legitimate pruning technique called Pollarding that sets up a basic plant structure as a young tree and then removes the growth each year to manage tree size. If it's done properly (which few people seem too in this country, in other countries it's a more mainstream technique) it's actually not that stressful on tree species suited to it.

Personally I think a well pruned, naturally formed Crepe Myrtle is such a beautiful tree I can't imagine wanting to cut it back every year.

[PHS]

Here is a good description of Pollarding.

http://www.mntca.org/Newsletter/newsletters/pollarding.htm

[killerv]

I bought a house a couple of years back where the previous owner absolutely butchered their crepe myrtles. Having doing some researching i came across "crepe murder". It seem 90% of the crepe myrtles around town have been done this way. They are much more beatiful when you let them grown naturally just pruning the rubbing branches, twiggy growth, and suckers. Anyway, I cut 3 of mine all the way to the ground. In a season there were back to 5 ft high, and I left all growth on them for this first season. (I tried keeping one of the trees pruned like I wanted it while it was rejuvenating and that a little much to handle, so I decided to let what would grow harden off last year and selectively prune this year). This year, I will pick out the 3 to 5 stalks I want to keep and clean out the rest so finally I will have natural looking crepe myrtles again.

[Elden]

The University of Fl did a study and proved that crepe murder does not produce more flowers. It does how ever cause some problems making it more susceptible to powdery mildew and aphids. You have to treat them like trees. Cutting brances at random places does not allow the tree to compartmentalize the wound. All be it, crepe myrtles are a pretty hardy plant, and can be brought back from the dead if they are crepe murded. There are new dwarf varieties that stay in the 3'-5' range, and some that stay in the 8'-10' range. Pick the right plant for the right place. Don't plant a giant seqoia in your 500 sq ft yard. lol

[SpringHillTnLandscaping]

I usually prune Crepe Myrtles if the client requests it during the dormant season. I do selective pruning to keep a proper form I am looking for. Most of my clients like to have a small multi trunked Crepe Myrtle tree that starts out in Spring about 5' to 6' high, I always remove the suckers during the year on the trunk and base. After most of the blooms start to fade I do some bloom pruning and usually get a great flush of new blooms after that. Most people that have them around my clients stop blooming while mine are going strong with fresh blooms. I spray for Japanese beatles during the Beatle outbreak in Summer and Fertilize in Spring and I have never heard of Crepe Murder haha it sounds funny tho. I am hoping when you say Crape Murder you are not talking about the way I am pruning. I have read several books on proper pruning of trees and shrubs and believe I am doing things the way I should. I do get great results so can someone give me a clear definition of Crepe Murder? Ty

www.LandscapeNashville.com

[GreenT]

I have read several books on proper pruning of trees and shrubs and believe I am doing things the way I should. I do get great results so can someone give me a clear definition of Crepe Murder? Ty

www.LandscapeNashville.com


Crepe Murder.....

.

[GreenT]

Unbutchered mature Crepe Myrtles....

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[GreenT]

I've seen mostly butchering of crepes down here. Usually the stalk and the first fork is left every season. Some of these stalks are 2" at the cut, and it seems really extreme. This is the norm, though. How did this get started? I don't see anyone do any sort of selective pruning on crepes.


Nobody knows how it started although I suspect commercial crews did in order to save time.

Repeat after me:

I will not commit “crape murder” by overpruning crape myrtles

I will not commit “crape murder” by overpruning crape myrtles

I will not commit “crape murder” by overpruning crape myrtles



I have a soft spot in my heart for Crape Myrtles.

As lovely as soft bits of fragile crinkled silk,
These rosy blossoms, clustered thick upon the heavy drooping boughs,
When shaken by a summer wind,
Drop down in swirling showers,
And drift awhile about the ground;
Then gathered into frothy heaps beneath the hedge,
They spread a frill of rosy lace around the green lawns edge.
- LEDA CLEMENTS

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[ProMo]

In some parts of the country you tend to get more flowers if you cut them back every year or least they say they do. .
actually you get less flowers but they will be larger.

[PHS]

I didn't know they would be larger but it makes sense, and they are all at the same "height" or bunched together in the same space giving the perception of increased flowering. In coastal CA where I'm from, naturally formed trees were more sparsely flowered than the flower explosion that we get here. Among other things I would always try to sell customers on the fact that a naturally formed tree looks good even when dormant.

Nobody knows how it started although I suspect commercial crews did in order to save time.

Tree topping has been around since the beginning of time. Look at how aggressively shrubs are "pruned", they're cut down to the ground every year, hedged and hacked in various ways. Grass is mowed every week to keep it short. For people who don't know any better a Crepe Myrtle is just part of the same process (I'm not advocating it, just explaining it :) ).

[Sunstate Lawn]

GreenT,

Can you show me a picture of a properly pruned crepe myrtle? Or are you advocating no trimming back unless branches cross or height control?

[GreenT]

GreenT,

Can you show me a picture of a properly pruned crepe myrtle? Or are you advocating no trimming back unless branches cross or height control?



Most of the ones I posted have minimal pruning. Personally, other than bottom suckers, I prefer the natural look.

Most people don't realize that, depending on the variety, one of the beauties of CMs is their bark as they mature and the overall structural aesthetic they provide to a garden when dormant.

.

[Green Pastures]

Crepe Murder is a shoddy practice that shows a lack of professionalism and knowledge.

[CALandscapes]

Green T your picture of "crepe murder" pained me to look at it. I absolutely HATE seeing when people do that the trees.

I'm in the New Orleans area (where we have a LOT of crepe myrtles) and I think that, unfortunately, more often than not, people AND lco's tend to butcher the damn trees. It's one of my biggest "pet peeves" if you will. It absolutely kills me to see people doing this, especially when they're people who hold licenses that are SUPPOSED to mean that they are educated about the work they're performing!

[GreenT]

Green T your picture of "crepe murder" pained me to look at it. I absolutely HATE seeing when people do that the trees.

I'm in the New Orleans area (where we have a LOT of crepe myrtles) and I think that, unfortunately, more often than not, people AND lco's tend to butcher the damn trees. It's one of my biggest "pet peeves" if you will. It absolutely kills me to see people doing this, especially when they're people who hold licenses that are SUPPOSED to mean that they are educated about the work they're performing!



Unfortunately, people see the 'professionals' doing it and think that's the right way.

I educate my customers and have found that the vast majority realize the mistake once it has been explained to them.

Note: Notice I didn't say all. It is their tree after all, and they have the final decision.

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[CALandscapes]

Note: Notice I didn't say all. It is their tree after all, and they have the final decision.

.

I still refuse to trim them that way, much in the same way I refuse to put down that tacky ass red cypress mulch. I guess if I ever ran in to a high $$ situation where it was ABSOLUTELY contingent upon me butchering the crepes or laying down the red mulch I would, but it would have to be 5 figures +..

[RonB]

I think alot of times the reason for the crepe murder is to control the height of the TREE. Many people seem to put the wrong type in the wrong place.

Around here the prefered height seems to be anywhere from 6-15'. Other than cutting off last years growth, how do you control the height .. you have little choice.

[tamadrummer]

I still refuse to trim them that way, much in the same way I refuse to put down that tacky ass red cypress mulch. I guess if I ever ran in to a high $$ situation where it was ABSOLUTELY contingent upon me butchering the crepes or laying down the red mulch I would, but it would have to be 5 figures +..

You have to be pulling in the big ducks to be telling your customers that you will not do the work that they are paying you to do.

I hate red mulch too and try to sell my customers on mini-bark nuggets since IMO they spread the easiest and looks the best but heck man, if they are going to pay me $55/yd to put in red mulch, then that is what they are going to get. I have found that I get a rash from the dye in the mulch but it is not anything that I cannot deal with.

If you are doing well enough to tell your customers that what they want is wrong and they are not going to get it, then that is awesome. Personally, I am not and even when I am I don't think I would go against their desire and allow them the chance to bring in another contractor to give them what they want because I would not do it.

[jeffinsgf]

You Southern guys, with crape myrtles growing into trees make me green with envy. Here in the transition zone, we can grow them, but they're more a shrub than a tree, coming back from the root ball each year. In that situation, what is the best pruning policy? I haven't cut mine back yet. I was kind of waiting for early spring to see if there is any growth on the old wood -- we've had a fairly hard winter, so I am guessing there won't be.

In hard freeze climates, should crape myrtles be cut to the ground each year, and if so, when?

[Green Pastures]

I educate my customers and have found that the vast majority realize the mistake once it has been explained to them.

Note: Notice I didn't say all. It is their tree after all, and they have the final decision.


I refuse to prune a crepe myrtle in that way and would not take anyone's money to do it.

If the customer wants it done that way even after the education I provide I'd ask them to find someone else to do it.

[SpringHillTnLandscaping]

GreenT and green pastures your pictures are awesome-- the mowing one and Sandra yeah awesome. I wanted to say that my favorite is the Wite Crepe Myrtle because of the cinamon bark in the winter. My clients request crepe murder then. I am so sorry for this grose violation of beauty and nature. I do admit that at first I felt un easy about the practice but I grew to accept it as a Crepe Myrtle thing that the public accepted and expected. I always wondered what practice would cure a nobbley lump at the end from impropper pruning of it though. My clients do not have that bad of a problem with it but I have seen it.

[PHS]

I always wondered what practice would cure a nobbley lump at the end from impropper pruning of it though.

The only way to "cure" that is to make proper pruning cuts just outside the branch collar and start allowing the tree to compartmentalize and callus. In other words start a proper pollard. You could make good cuts then try to restructure the tree by allowing a select few of the whips become permanent branches but you have to be careful with that because they're going to be weakly attached for a long time and very susceptible to breakage. At some point the knobs will completely callus over and be less noticeable.

[SpringHillTnLandscaping]

Great reply about the nobbley numpy lumpies, thanks, and to the other guy I also never put down that tacky red trash painted mulch.

www.LandscapeNashville.com

[TScapes]

Green T, the one pic that you show of the "Crepe Murder" is what we refer to as "Hands of Idiots". Each area resembles an out stretched hand with fingers.

We typically go by the rule, One stalk to two. Meaning, one branch leads to two branches moving up to the canopy of the tree. We try to keep an umbrella shape to the canopy of the tree, but it depends on the property and its location in the landscape. If a tree is 15 feet or greater, we tend to let it go, only cleaning up the trunk up to what we can reach and of course pruning out any crossing or rubbing braches.

[GreenT]

Green T, the one pic that you show of the "Crepe Murder" is what we refer to as "Hands of Idiots". Each area resembles an out stretched hand with fingers.

We typically go by the rule, One stalk to two. Meaning, one branch leads to two branches moving up to the canopy of the tree. We try to keep an umbrella shape to the canopy of the tree, but it depends on the property and its location in the landscape. If a tree is 15 feet or greater, we tend to let it go, only cleaning up the trunk up to what we can reach and of course pruning out any crossing or rubbing braches.



"One stalk to two"... Never heard of that but sounds like a sensible approach.

I also like the "Hands of Idiots" expression. Pretty descriptive.

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[GreenT]

Here's some information on proper pruning technique from the IFAS Extension at UF:



Many homeowners and landscape professionals cut these trees back too severely; this is commonly called "crape murder" and can be very damaging and disfiguring to the tree. There will be profuse growth at the site of the pruning, resulting in a "witches' broom" and a tree that is no longer in proportion.

This type of topping causes basal sprouting and increases susceptibility to disease and insects. It also encourages new growth that is too dense for light and air movement to reach the inner branches, large "knobs" where trees have been trimmed repeatedly, and an unsightly appearance until new growth appears. While topping may result in larger blooms, they will grow on thinner, weaker branches which will droop, especially after rain, and may even break. It may also shorten the life of your trees. The purpose of pruning is to create a canopy where air can circulate and all branches receive sunlight.

The proper way to prune crape myrtles includes removing suckers from the bottom of the plant; removing crossed, damaged, or diseased branches; pruning the tips of the branches to remove old flowers; and thinning out small twiggy growth. In the case of crossed branches, one should remove the weaker of the two limbs that are crossing or rubbing. If old blooms are removed after blooming, a second blooming may occur.
Rehabilitation


If you have a crape myrtle that has been "murdered," there are two methods for rehabilitating it.

* The first method is to choose the strongest two or three sprouts from each stub and remove all of the other sprouts. This will encourage the remaining sprouts to be stronger and the canopy of the tree to be airier. If this procedure is followed for a couple of seasons the tree is sure to be much improved in health and appearance.

* The second more drastic technique for rehabilitating the tree is to cut it back to within one to two inches of the ground while the tree is dormant. After two to three weeks of growth, select three to five of the most vigorous new shoots on each trunk and remove all others. Remove new shoots that emerge later. Within three to five years, you will again have a natural looking crape myrtle.


.

[Sunstate Lawn]

This is exactly why I use this site! I haven't been able to get anyone to give me a straight answer on crepe myrtles. I'm going to make my policy to NOT destroy a crepe myrtle in the winter. Thanks for all your help!

[packey]

I have noticed several of you favor pruning crepe myrtles during dormant season. I will tell you we normally pruned crepe myrtls 2 per year dormant season and late July yes late July the key is to always remember not to butcher the poor plant. we would prune succers of the main trunk Prune parrellel branches, damaged branches and new growth. we would get two blooming cycles out of our plants. I think people have taken pruning to far at tymes and this is the reason for crepe murder. I have seen the same done with roses people will prune the poor things to death.

[SpringHillTnLandscaping]

Yeah I prune off the suckers at every visit that I see them, at the base, and the trunk level.

www.Landscapenashville.com