Please consider dwarf varieties! Planning to maintain the size of a crape myrtle (or dogwood for that matter) by pruning is almost certainly not a good idea (unless you just want the challenge and you know what you're getting yourself into). There are varieties that won't get too big. These dwarf varieties will pay you back big time in the long run.

If you do a search on Gardenweb for crape myrtle pruning, you will see that many people have mega problems trying to keep their crape myrtles in check without a lot of work and without butchering them because the mature size of the tree/shrub was not considered when it was planted.

Do your research before you buy or seek out advise from a very reputable nursery. I'm not sure where you are from, but a good source from Crape Myrtles here in Knoxville is Thress Nursery. I don't buy a lot from them because they tend to be a little higher than some other nurseries. However, when you need high quality planting material and dependable information about the plants, they are fairly good (most of the time). They also have a good selection of Crape Myrtles. Remember that the mature size information found on nursery stock tree/shrub tags is usually the expected size in 10 to 12 years. The tree will likely exceed that size with time.

A properly sized Crape Myrtle, pruned correctly, is truly a thing of beauty!

I was thinking of the Sioux, which is a medium-sized (16-20 feet full size). The power lines are supposed to be 25 feet up according to my research, which doesn't include actually measuring. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Sioux Crape Myrtle

I've been thinking about crabapples for a similar chore (but no sidewalk underneath). There are already sooooooooooooo many crepe myrtles around town, and they don't make fruit either!

I also just bought an English hawthorn. I'm going to read up on it more, but it sounds like it would be about the same as a crab.

Incidentally, I kinda disagree about pruning crepe myrtles. They are SO tough--you can whack the cr*p outta them every spring to keep them in check, and they'll be blooming great by summer.

Why not try a broadleaf evergreen small tree such as Carolina Laurelcherry or Wax Myrtle? It seems many people in Knoxville plants for spring and fall color and forget that there's 4 to 5 months that will be completely bare.

Crape Murder a.k.a. "whack(ing) the cr*p outta them every spring to keep them in check" or "the Crape Myrtle version of tree toping", destroys the form and beauty of Crape Myrtles. There are currently over 130 posts on Gardenweb advising against this particular practice.

My mom did this to her Crape Myrtles last year. They had always looked so pretty, but were getting larger than she liked. I was over there the other day and noticed how horrible they looked. She is heart broken over the results. I wished she had asked me before she did it.

Also, why do all the work of having to prune every year. Even if you are really good at pruning and do it correctly (heading back technique), it's just not worth all the trouble. It's much easier to get the right plant for the spot to start with.

Gretchen, I read up a little on Lagerstroemia xÂSioux and it looks promising to me. It has a lot of good reviews from different sources.

I guess everyone has different ideas about what to plant (thank goodness), but I think this selection would be much prettier and less problematic than many of the alternative types of shrubs. No matter what you pick, read up on the potential negatives before you purchase and plant.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder -- and in the hand of the pruner. ;-) And heck, I for one grow all SORTS of things that need to be cut back every spring. It hasn't killed me yet!

I hope you didn't misunderstand me about pruning. I meant I want to buy a variety that still fits under the power line so won't need that sort of top pruning; by pruning I meant I'll prune so walkers can get by on the sidewalk without trouble.

Myrtleoak and amazindirt, are you tired of crape myrtles? :) As a northerner, I am obsessed with them; I think they're beautiful in all seasons, including winter with their decorative bark. That's partly why I'm leaning toward them for my strip, so I'll have something gorgeous to look at all year.

Hey Gretchen --

I grew up in Nashville, now living in Knoxville. I have lived most of my life surrounded by crepe myrtles, and they are more and more overused every year in public plantings.

Don't get me wrong -- they're good looking plants. I just tend to look for things that are a little more unusual!

That said, I do have two crepe myrtles of my own. Both are dwarfs. 'Chickasaw' is truly tiny, with itty bitty leaves like dwarf boxwood. The other is a small purple whose name I can't remember right now. So I'm not totally against em. ;-)

I love crepe myrtles also but they are very overplanted. But it is your space, so you should plant what makes YOU happy.

Very true, myrtleoak (plant what makes you happy). As I said, crape myrtles are so new to me that I'm loving them. And I'm glad none of you wrote in with stories about how terrible they are for this type of area (street strip) so I'm moving forward. Thanks, all!