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 ...

Find out when to prune crape myrtles to get the most flowers.

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Introduced from China, crape myrtles have been grown in the U.S. since the American Revolution and were well-established on plantations throughout the South before the Civil War. Old, unpruned crape ...

You may prune crape myrtle shrubs when they are within reach — the wood is easy to cut and this is the dormant season. However, pruning injures all plants either temporarily, as sap is lost, or ...

Don't let old growth see another spring.

Crape murder is happening all over town. It doesn’t matter how horticulturists talk about proper pruning techniques, each year more and more trees are cut back to stubs. Standard crape myrtles have ...