CrapeMyrtle

[johnsonslawnmanagement]

I've been wanting to do some type of informative ad on the proper way to prune CM'S. Too many people around here commit "crape murder."
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[gunsnroses]

Personally I have never had problems pruning crapes and frost damage...I prune to a minimum myself, like some said, only to clean them up a bit. The only time I heavy prune crape myrtles is when the are creating a problem, because the wrong cultivar was selected and or installed. If you are going to plant a crape myrtle next to a light post or 8 feet from a house....just plant a dwarf. Where I work these fools planted the wrong cultivars all over. Here I am now 7 years after install trying to tame some 20 foot crapes planted around light posts @ 12 feet. Anything in a wide freaking parking lot....by all means let her rip. I crack up at the DOT guys wackin back to 4 feet every year in the middle of huge ramp areas off the highway. Back to topic, has anyone on here seen or killed a crape due to timing of pruning? I dont think I have ever even seen an established plant die for any reason.

[zturncutter]

I never have, I'm sure it probably has happened but even some of my older customers who insist on cutting them to the ground each year (they do this themselves, I won't do it) do not manage to kill the plants. They just don't bloom as well as the plants are just trying to add foliage.

[MarcSmith]

Originally Posted by zturncutter

They just don't bloom as well as the plants are just trying to add foliage.

you nailed it right there..

if you whack a crape back, now its trying to regrow wood, then grow new leaves on that new wood and and flower on that new wood... if you properly prune. the crepe is adding leaves to existing wood, flowering and adding some new wood.

You'll get a much better show... doing it properly.

[fl-landscapes]

Originally Posted by MarcSmith

you nailed it right there..

if you whack a crape back, now its trying to regrow wood, then grow new leaves on that new wood and and flower on that new wood... if you properly prune. the crepe is adding leaves to existing wood, flowering and adding some new wood.

You'll get a much better show... doing it properly.

yup only so much carbohydrates to support the plants life and it prioritises where to spend its energy and photosynthesis is priority over reproduction. Over pruning will also pull carbs away from important root developement as well as blooms.

[abrightday]

Originally Posted by gunsnroses

Personally I have never had problems pruning crapes and frost damage...I prune to a minimum myself, like some said, only to clean them up a bit. The only time I heavy prune crape myrtles is when the are creating a problem, because the wrong cultivar was selected and or installed. If you are going to plant a crape myrtle next to a light post or 8 feet from a house....just plant a dwarf. Where I work these fools planted the wrong cultivars all over. Here I am now 7 years after install trying to tame some 20 foot crapes planted around light posts @ 12 feet. Anything in a wide freaking parking lot....by all means let her rip. I crack up at the DOT guys wackin back to 4 feet every year in the middle of huge ramp areas off the highway. Back to topic, has anyone on here seen or killed a crape due to timing of pruning? I dont think I have ever even seen an established plant die for any reason.

I have a customer in Deland Florida who cut back his in January, they were about only 10 - 15 feet tall. It was hard freeze the next night,,fried them, they did not come back.

[Florida Gardener]

It amazes me how ignorant homeowners and a lot of landscapers are. It is like they have to cut something, even if they can't give you an educated reason why they are doing it.
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[Landscape Poet]

Originally Posted by MarcSmith

Another thing you can do Mike and Able. is to buy ad space in an HOA newsletter and write a Hort related article with a plug for your business at the end of the article. Its one of the things I did in Orlando in my targeted hoods...It was a good return on ad money...

Thanks, that is one of the few advertising methods that I think I am actually going to do this year. My HOA has roughly 750 homes - so I figured since I really can not expand much more than where I am now, might as well pick up the ones in the neighborhood.

[GunnPropertyServices]

is there a way to control or limit new branches from forming from the base of Crapes, i have a couple properties that just wont stop once trimmed they seem to grow back over night in the growing season.

[abrightday]

Originally Posted by GunnPropertyServices

is there a way to control or limit new branches from forming from the base of Crapes, i have a couple properties that just wont stop once trimmed they seem to grow back over night in the growing season.

Instead of cutting them off, break them off, they'll tear off right at the base,, they won't come back as fast, and when you cut them off 2 or more will sprout out,,breaking only the one stem will eventually emerge. As for completely stopping them,,there is no way I no of. www.YourLandscapePro.com