Crepe Murder - Don't Do It!

Each spring, Matt and I cringe when we drive by those peaceful, Southern trees called Crepe Myrtles (or, Crape Myrtles, depending on your spelling preference), that have been hacked back to knobby/gnarly stubs.

People seem to want to cut off the limbs of crepe myrtles because they think it will promote blooming (since blooms appear on new growth), but the result is a damaged and mutilated tree that is also quite ugly.

Dave's Garden, one of my favorite resources for infinite gardening information, has a wonderful article on how to properly prune and appreciate a crepe myrtle.

A beautiful row of crepe myrtles.

Crepe Murder ("topping") is a very common problem; a quick Google search yielded lots of images and web pages on the subject. The University of Florida has a good article on how to avoid - and recover from - crepe murder.

"Although topping may result in larger blooms, those flowers will grow on thinner, weaker branches that will droop--especially after rain--and may even break. Topping may also shorten the life of your trees.

"To properly prune crape myrtles, use the following techniques.

• Remove suckers from the bottom of the plant.
• Remove crossed, damaged, or diseased branches. For crossed branches, remove the weaker of the two limbs that are crossing or rubbing.
• Prune the tips of the branches to remove old flowers. If old blooms are removed, a second blooming may occur.
• Thin out small twiggy growth to allow air to better circulate in the canopy.
• [Pruning should be done in late winter/early spring before new growth begins. Avoid pruning in late fall because this will force new growth and can prevent the tree from going dormant.]
  

"You have two options for rehabilitating a "murdered" crape myrtle.

• 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 you follow this procedure for a couple of seasons, the tree is sure to be much improved in health and appearance.
• The second--and more drastic--technique is to cut the tree 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 any new shoots that emerge later. Within three to five years, you will again have a natural-looking crape myrtle."

'Raspberry Swirl' Crepe Myrtle blooms

Crepe Myrtles come in lots of colors and sizes. You can prune them into a bush or tree shape, but never top them off. They have beautiful bark to admire in the winter and brightly colored leaves in the fall. They're a year-round beauty and put up with our hot and humid summers without a fuss.