I like pruning anything which isn't plum obvious once the leaves are off the tree. You can see the structure better. Crepes here die to the ground plenty of years so I bet they can take a pruning and survive whenever.

Is your goal to make it more formal looking?

I would wait until the flowers are gone, and we are not get the high temperatures and humidity.

I live in eastern North Carolina and have a little flowering Cherry, that I have to practically lay on the lawn tractor to get under, I am trying hard to listen to my own advice. The tree was planted about 3 summers ago, and I don't want to do any thing to damage it.

You can't hurt a cm - or at least, it's pretty tough to. The issue with the timing is that they bloom on new wood - this year's growth - and so you don't want to cut that off or you won't get flowers. So the rule of thumb is to prune them AFTER they bloom, not before. However, then the timing is vaguer; I never prune mine until early spring, just before they leaf out. But I don't mind the winter silhouette of the spent flowers and seeds, because mine are not planted where anyone is right up on top of them.They might not be attractive enough close up in late summer if not pruned. It may be that where you live it's advisable to do it in summer or fall, best if someone in your areas weighs in.

gigi, I strongly urge you to wait until all the leaves have fallen so that you can see what you're doing.....as others have suggested. You will find that that is the prevalent advice from the professionals and .edu websites.

You haven't provided us with a good picture so that we may offer some pruning suggestions; you might want to do that. There might be some sucker branches at the bottom that can come off now.

The seed heads are one of the attractive features of a winter crape myrtle, I'd never remove them. They fall off on their own with the advent of the new growth.

sara said: So the rule of thumb is to prune them AFTER they bloom,

===>>> now i dont do CMs in MI .... so i am asking this ...

sometimes a shrub is just pissin you off and you want it cut down NOW ... regardless of losing a flower cycle ... and that sounds about where OP is ... can it be done now? [original poster] ...

of course removal is the highest form of pruning.. and that can be done anytime... lol .. and if it really is irritating you.. dont hesitate ... the flip side is.. this would be a good plant to learn pruning on.. and you can always remove it later ... if you screw it all up ..

also.. novice here .... what does seeing structure have to do with avoiding CM murder ... a term i am sure OP is running across ....

ken

Oh yeah, as Ken says, if you are just itching to go after it, all you sacrifice is this year's blooms. I do that all the time, sometimes just because it needs to be done and there I am with tools in hand so it seems crazy to wait. But you won't ever find advice to do it that way. Just so you can interpret the timing suggestions. Some timing really is for the health of the tree; I won't prune some pines in spring/summer due to sequoia moth and pine bark beetles. But this is strictly to maximize flower power.