Odd, crapes are pretty indestructible. Even when struck and run over by cars, they'll come back up as a bushy type and you start all over again with the pruning to standard.

I'm sorry to hear about your crape myrtle. My first thought is cold damage. I don't know if the sun hits your front yard first? In cold weather, the bark will freeze and when it thaws rapidly with the morning sun, it will crack. Just a thought.

I have 2 crepes. One has 6 trunks, all healthy. The other has 4 trunks, 2 with cracks at the base and they look dead. The 2 with cracked trunks face the rising sun, so I was interested in reading pfmastin's opinion.

I'll have to try the ''scratch test'', scratch the skin/bark with a knife from high to low looking for green, when you find green, cut. With the cracks,I'll probably have to cut at ground level.