Best video I have ever seen on pruning crape myrtles. My subdivision boulevard looks like crape murder hit. I am definitely going to trim mine as Dr. Robbins showed me. Thanks.
Thanks Janice. We hope you are a positive crape myrtle influence on your subdivision. We'd love to see some photos when you've trimmed them. You can even share to our Facebook page. facebook.com/uaex.edu
I have young crape myrtle trees. I am new of planting trees and new in USA. I love this tree very much. I wish all of them will grow like yours. Thank you for sharing this video. I can determine now how to prune properly and not to murder the tree just like other videos showing the way they murder it.
Great Video, unfortunately when i purchased my home new, the landscapers had planted 2 medium sized myrtles on either side of my house - right at the corner of each rain gutter. I have no choice but to "lop" mine off at approximately 6.5 ft. each end of January. Otherwise, they'd be all over my roof, gutters, etc. The trees were already too big once we moved in to consider relocating them. I certainly don't cut them waist high, but I do take them down to about 6.5 ft. and they are a beautiful height by May. I live in Savannah, and they grow like weeds.
If I cut the berry heads off when pruning, will they grow back? I have crape that I pruned improperly last year, and the weight of the berries on the new branches is preventing the new branches from growing upward.
Great question! When allowed to maintain their natural form, crepe myrtles have a beautiful form,(aka 'habit') with a clump of attractive trunks and branching that looks good in winter, as well as when the foliage and blooms are present.Why in the world people started chopping them off at three or four or five feet high is a mystery to me. As the presenter says, it looks horrible. The natural form or habit of a clump of small trees is so pretty. They are a smaller shrubby tree, with mature height depending on the variety, so with thoughtful planning, they will not outgrow their space, or look too large in a suburban yard.Thinning the number of trunks if there are just too many growing together, or removing any crossing branches or branches that rub, or removing any diseased or damaged trunks or branches can be done to help the plant maintain health, and still keep the naturally beautiful growth form, as shown in the video.
Great question! A majority of crapemyrtles in the South & Southeast are butchered by an indiscriminate cutting back of stems in what we call 'topping'. We also call it 'crape murder'. The general intent of the video was to show an alternative method of thinning stems on a crapemyrtle while maintaining the natural habit. In reality, for this selection of crapemyrtle, you probably could do even less pruning than what is shown. You could primarily focus on structural problems (e.g. crossing limbs) and not use 'renewal pruning' to thin the number of main stems or canes. Thanks for a great observation and question. -Jim Robbins
Hi I live in Ky..I bought a new home over a year ago. I have a crepe Myrtle in my side yard..it has never had leaves or bloomed..shows no signs of problems its about 10 feet tall full sun..any ideals of whats wrong. Should I leave it or remove it to plant a new one..thank u
@Chrissy Lewis We appreciate your follow-up question to a RUclips video that you watched on crapemyrtle pruning from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture: I am confused by part of your statement: "..has never had leaves or bloomed.." If it has never had leaves then it is very likely dead. You can conduct a very simple test; scratch the bark on the twig with your fingernail. IF you do not observe any 'green' (versus brown) just under the outer bark, then that wood is dead. IF the outer wood is some shade of green, the plant is still alive and should leaf out in 2015. As far as flowering, crapemyrtles flower on 'new growth' so no matter how much winter injury or pruning, you are almost always guaranteed flowers. The flowers may be later than normal, but you should have flowers. I am not sure what zone you live in. Most crapemyrtles are root hardy to at least zone 6 (@PHZMWeb/).
Hi Josie. Sorry for the late reply. Jim Robbins, our resident expert on crapemyrtles, says, "There is no way to stop the basal suckers 'permanently'. You can remove with pruners as they appear or you can try a plant growth regulator (e.g. Sucker-Stopper from Monterey Chemical: www.montereylawngarden.com/product_information.aspx?242000p=38d342ec-490d-4a2b-8680-a5c80e030d41&240000p=9342cd9d-2f10-4870-b07c-02d0b3277abb ) that can reduce the number of times you need to manually remove suckers. Crapemyrtles are on their label. However, Amazon has a notice that it has been discontinued by the manufacturer. But their site is still selling them." Good luck!
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Thanks for the tips...I like that canopy look...Nice job!
Best video I have ever seen on pruning crape myrtles. My subdivision boulevard looks like crape murder hit. I am definitely going to trim mine as Dr. Robbins showed me. Thanks.
Thanks Janice. We hope you are a positive crape myrtle influence on your subdivision. We'd love to see some photos when you've trimmed them. You can even share to our Facebook page. facebook.com/uaex.edu
First person i've seen on youtube that does it right.
I have young crape myrtle trees. I am new of planting trees and new in USA. I love this tree very much. I wish all of them will grow like yours. Thank you for sharing this video. I can determine now how to prune properly and not to murder the tree just like other videos showing the way they murder it.
Great Video, unfortunately when i purchased my home new, the landscapers had planted 2 medium sized myrtles on either side of my house - right at the corner of each rain gutter. I have no choice but to "lop" mine off at approximately 6.5 ft. each end of January. Otherwise, they'd be all over my roof, gutters, etc. The trees were already too big once we moved in to consider relocating them. I certainly don't cut them waist high, but I do take them down to about 6.5 ft. and they are a beautiful height by May. I live in Savannah, and they grow like weeds.
Thanks for the video.
hi ...is ok to cut a piece off to propagate? and those cuts you got can you get new plants out of them?
If I cut the berry heads off when pruning, will they grow back? I have crape that I pruned improperly last year, and the weight of the berries on the new branches is preventing the new branches from growing upward.
Hi! Why do these need to be pruned? Would it grow fuller if you don't cut anything?
Great question! When allowed to maintain their natural form, crepe myrtles have a beautiful form,(aka 'habit') with a clump of attractive trunks and branching that looks good in winter, as well as when the foliage and blooms are present.Why in the world people started chopping them off at three or four or five feet high is a mystery to me. As the presenter says, it looks horrible. The natural form or habit of a clump of small trees is so pretty. They are a smaller shrubby tree, with mature height depending on the variety, so with thoughtful planning, they will not outgrow their space, or look too large in a suburban yard.Thinning the number of trunks if there are just too many growing together, or removing any crossing branches or branches that rub, or removing any diseased or damaged trunks or branches can be done to help the plant maintain health, and still keep the naturally beautiful growth form, as shown in the video.
i call it the Rape of the Crepe!!!! It's hideous!
Great question! A majority of crapemyrtles in the South & Southeast are butchered by an indiscriminate cutting back of stems in what we call 'topping'. We also call it 'crape murder'. The general intent of the video was to show an alternative method of thinning stems on a crapemyrtle while maintaining the natural habit. In reality, for this selection of crapemyrtle, you probably could do even less pruning than what is shown. You could primarily focus on structural problems (e.g. crossing limbs) and not use 'renewal pruning' to thin the number of main stems or canes. Thanks for a great observation and question. -Jim Robbins
Hi I live in Ky..I bought a new home over a year ago. I have a crepe Myrtle in my side yard..it has never had leaves or bloomed..shows no signs of problems its about 10 feet tall full sun..any ideals of whats wrong. Should I leave it or remove it to plant a new one..thank u
@Chrissy Lewis We appreciate your follow-up question to a RUclips video that you watched on crapemyrtle pruning from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture: I am confused by part of your statement: "..has never had leaves or bloomed.." If it has never had leaves then it is very likely dead. You can conduct a very simple test; scratch the bark on the twig with your fingernail. IF you do not observe any 'green' (versus brown) just under the outer bark, then that wood is dead. IF the outer wood is some shade of green, the plant is still alive and should leaf out in 2015. As far as flowering, crapemyrtles flower on 'new growth' so no matter how much winter injury or pruning, you are almost always guaranteed flowers. The flowers may be later than normal, but you should have flowers. I am not sure what zone you live in. Most crapemyrtles are root hardy to at least zone 6 (@PHZMWeb/).
why would you leave that many branches on a crepe myrtle to start with?
I have a crape myrtle that has suckers growing at the base of tree. how do I get rid of them permanently?
Hi Josie. Sorry for the late reply. Jim Robbins, our resident expert on crapemyrtles, says, "There is no way to stop the basal suckers 'permanently'. You can remove with pruners as they appear or you can try a plant growth regulator (e.g. Sucker-Stopper from Monterey Chemical: www.montereylawngarden.com/product_information.aspx?242000p=38d342ec-490d-4a2b-8680-a5c80e030d41&240000p=9342cd9d-2f10-4870-b07c-02d0b3277abb ) that can reduce the number of times you need to manually remove suckers. Crapemyrtles are on their label. However, Amazon has a notice that it has been discontinued by the manufacturer. But their site is still selling them." Good luck!
very informative
awesome- I'm going to try this today! :)
See also the one by MadisonChaseHOA 4 videos
THIS IS THE VIDEO TO WATCH! ANYTHING LESS IS CRAPE MURDER! SOME OF US WHO DO THIS FOR A LIVING KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING!
I wish that I would have watched this before I murdered mine LOL.
yew 2020