Driving to work I notice most all of the Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia
indica) that have been amputated or have their tops whacked off.  This is
what we call crape murder.

 

Trees should never be topped.  It destroys the branching control and natural
shape.

 

If you have a crape myrtle please do not hack it down to the stick.  There
is no educated arborist or horticulturist that will tell you to do this.

 

It will leave scars and wounds that last forever.  It creates smaller
branches that grow which are lacking in proportion.  When crape myrtle trees
are topped this way, the blooms are larger, although fewer, but since these
large blooms are on new shoots, they will flop over and droop, especially
when it rains.  

 

If you go to Mobile or Charleston you will admire the beautiful crape
myrtles and they are not hacked down in this way.

 

If you hire someone that hacks down your myrtles, they have not taken the
time to educate themselves on horticulturally sound practices.

 

Prune your myrtles to thin out the trunks on young trees.  You should leave
somewhere around 3 to 7 permanent trunks.  Each year in the spring time you
then will only have to remove new suckers that appear from the ground or
from your main trunk.  Then on your tree form or branches, you can remove
the cross-over branches ---stand away from your tree and you can see the
branches that should be removed to make the form that you want the tree to
be.  And then early spring remove the new growth which is easy to do.  

 

If you want your dried pods removed, do it in the summer and it will promote
faster re-bloom.  You do not have to remove the pods however and it is hard
to do on a large tree.

 

If you want your myrtle to be small, then you have bought the wrong tree.
Dig up the one you have and buy one that is smaller.  There are many smaller
ones to choose from and you won't have to battle your tree to be the size
you want it to be.

 

Crape myrtles are one of the showiest plants in our area with few pests,
bloom several weeks.  Their barks are exfoliating and afterwards they are
smooth and beautiful.  They have a beautiful branching structure so why
butcher them?  Thanks.

 

Donna Adams, President

Hamilton County Master Gardeners

 

 


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