How to ruin a crape myrtle tree
Ienjoy living n a heavily wooded area; that’s why I oppose over-pruning of any tree. Sure, we do need to prune trees if they are in a urban setting and they are a danger to power lines, but we have a tendency to overdo it.
Crape myrtle trees are the most frequent victims. It’s too late this year for a lot of crape myrtles because the choppers have already descended upon the helpless trees and it’s whack! whack! whack! as pruners try to make the trees into bushes.
Along with several thousand others, one of the oldest crape myrtles in El Dorado, between the Murphy USA building and First Financial Bank, is in full bloom. At around 75 years old, it’s a living example of why you should not prune.
The next few weeks are the primary blooming season for crape myrtles. Take a look at the ones that have been chopped off and compare them with those that have been pruned properly.
About 12 years ago, Fifty for the Future had a crape myrtle campaign that Clara Jones and I organized which resulted in having over 5,000 crape myrtle trees planted in the city limits over a couple of planting seasons. Today these almost mature trees are blooming, and the properly pruned ones look great. In downtown El Dorado around the courthouse, especially in the planters on the Main Street side, the crape myrtle have been pruned properly, and they are a gorgeous plus for our downtown; anyone who thinks they are going to be chopped off is going to have me to contend with.
For some reason folks in the South have a fetish for chopping off crape myrtles, and instead of a tree with gorgeous summer blooms, they end up with four or five ugly knobs with scraggly sprouts and pitiful blooms. This over-punning ultimately kills the tree. We just returned from a driving trip to Greenwood, Miss., and marveled at the towns we drove through where crape myrtles were properly cropped.
If you do choose to prune crape myrtles, do so in mid-February to avoid winter injury. Pruning should be done only to shape the tree, not to severely control plant height. Pruning is unnecessary for blooming. The seed heads from last year can remain on the plant all year, and you will still get good blooms in the current year.
Crape myrtle pruning weakens the plant, making it more susceptible to disease and insect infestations.
If the tree is correctly placed and can grow to its mature size, let it grow. Remove lower limbs that are thinner than a pencil in diameter while the plant is young.
Pruning correctly is much less work than incorrectly pruning. If the plant is improperly placed and gets too large for its current position, consider transplanting it. Crape myrtles transplant very well.
If you prune in the same place each year, the plants develop a knob on the end which is particularly unsightly in the winter, and you will end up with numerous smaller weak limbs shooting out from the knee. Pruning lower limbs that are less than a pencil-width in diameter is acceptable, since it will not leave any scars.
As the tree grows, it becomes difficult and even dangerous to prune the top, and it’s not necessary.
Almost all local plant nurseries have a good stock of crape myrtle trees, and late this fall, after Thanksgiving and before they sprout in the spring, you can plant one of the best Southern trees available. They are perfect street trees for commercial districts, and front yards—if they are pruned properly.