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crepe myrtle question

17 years ago

i was wondering if it is too late to prune crepe myrtles now,,,they have grown pretty tall but not wide enough...my problem is it's been raining pretty much and the branches seem pretty weak with flowering so heavy a couple of branches have snapped,so i cut most of the heavy flowers off.i am wondering how to get them to grow wider than taller. i have the red ones not sure what their names are.would appreciate any info.

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hoseman
17 years ago
They will grow wider as they send up more stems. You did not say if they were shrub or tree type. Let it grow naturally for a couple of years and then decide what type of plant you want. You can take off all the lower branches if they are the taller variety and enjoy the bark, some varieties are beautiful. My tree types were pruned to 3-5 stems and all the lower limbs were removed several years ago. Now we enjoy the beautiful blooms as well as the cinnomen bark. The bark is especially nice in the winter.
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