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 ...

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 ...

Prune crape myrtles in late winter to encourage strong new growth and flower production. Avoid pruning in spring, summer, or fall to prevent cutting off new flowers and stressing the tree. Never top ...

Over the past couple of weeks, fellow gardeners have asked that I explain how to prune crepe myrtles, as I often complain (to anyone that will listen) about neighbors following neighbors' poor pruning ...

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 ...

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: ...

Apparently winter has decided it’s time to make her frigid presence known, arriving in Southeast Texas for an extended period…the entire week! Fortunately for us all, winter is most often fleeting — a ...

Somehow, the belief that crape myrtles should be brutally pruned by cutting off their tops persists, even though it's inaccurate. Crape murder is a term that has been coined to describe this severe ...

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 ...