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 ...

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 ...

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: ...

Question: Lots of shoots are growing from the base and among the limbs of a tree form crape myrtle. Can I remove these to allow yard work? Answer: Do the needed pruning to make your crape myrtle more ...

You’ve probably seen crape myrtle trees pruned to look like a coat rack. Hopefully, you’re not guilty of doing this. The term “crape murder” was coined to describe this drastic topping of crape ...

Crape myrtle is one of my favorite landscape trees. It is valued in the landscape for summerlong blooms, peeling bark and its natural form. Crape myrtles are also as tough as they are beautiful. I am ...

I enjoy 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 ...

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 ...