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 ...

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 ...

Crape myrtle blooms on new growth, so the best time to cut back these trees is in late winter, before new growth has sprouted ...

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 ...

For many plants, pruning in late winter can ruin your flower display. But for these summer bloomers, it'll have the opposite ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

View full size Harsh pruning of crape myrtles is not healthy for the trees, contrary to popular belief. It leaves them structurally weak and more susceptible to fungus diseases such as powdery mildew ...

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 ...

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.