The crepe myrtle is a spectacular tree and, if kept in good health, it can elevate the look of any garden. To ensure the tree blooms as it should come late spring, and the branches can hold the weight ...

I usually wait until mid-January to write something on this topic but this week I saw my first severe pruning of a crape myrtle for this dormant season earlier this month. So, instead of visions of ...

Crepe myrtles, Lagerstroemia indica, vary in size from dwarf shrubs to multi-trunked and single-trunk trees growing to 30 feet tall. Most varieties produce beautiful blooms starting in spring or ...

Years of improper pruning have taken their toll on this crape myrtle tree. (Alan Windham, University of Tennessee) QUESTION: While visiting a local mall, I noticed the crape myrtles had all been cut ...

Now’s the time of year you’re most likely to see naked crape myrtle trees, the unfortunate consequence of improper wintertime pruning. The practice has even been given a not-so-affectionate nickname: ...

And so it begins again. Years ago, this was hog-butchering time. Now it has unfortunately become crape myrtle-butchering time. The only pruning crape myrtles ever need (if at all) is thinning the ...

Whenever I get to the Q&A portion of a talk about pruning trees, there is always a question about how to prune crape myrtles. This time of year, those questions are even more common, as folks start ...

Question: Several crape myrtles have grown well in my landscape. When and how should I prune them for spring? Answer: Actually, you don’t need to prune crape myrtles, but yearly pruning seems to be a ...

In the spring as the weather changes, many are concerned about pruning crape myrtles. Hacking the tops of crape myrtles has become a common practice in Rowan County as often referred as “Crape Murder.

This improperly pruned crape myrtle tree has undergone “crape murder,” which is when the entire crown of the crape myrtle tree is cut off. Courtesy of Leaf & Limb, a Raleigh-based tree care company ...