pruning Crepe Myrtle

7 years ago

I have attached a picture for help. I have had this tree for years but never pruned it. It is a tall version, roughly 15-20ft maybe. I know not to just hack it down like most landscapers do, but can I bring it down at all ? I want to try and bring the height own and make it shrub out more at the top. I get some blooms on the very top but not many and it’s not as “full” as I’d like it. I don’t know the variety, which would help more but it just seems more lanky and growing up more than out.

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brandon7 TN_zone7

7 years ago

That poor crApe myrtle looks tortured! As someone above noted, it has been crape-murdered before, but that's not its only problem. If it were mine and I were going to keep it, I would cut it completely to ground level and let it resprout. I believe you could end up with a much prettier trunk system, eventually. There's no need to go though some kind of rejuvenating process like you might do with some shrubs. I believe treating that way would be much more difficult and time consuming. Healthy crape myrtles will send up multiple shoots, and then you can pick the ones you want to keep. I suggest three to five main trunks but not more than seven. That's a matter of personal taste. Once you cut the plant to the ground and it resprouts, you will have to remove unwanted suckers for quite a while (maybe a couple of years) before it adjusts itself and slows its production of suckers. You'll have better luck if you can remove the suckers, before they get too big, by pulling them off. If you let them get large and then have to cut them, you'll be encouraging more suckers. Whatever you do, don't cut the trunks down to a foot or something like that. Doing so would further insult this poor little plant.

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Comments (10)

cooper8828
7 years ago
No help on the pruning, but I suspect it is not blooming well due to not enough sun. Your area appears to be pretty shady.
dbarron
7 years ago
Above commentor is probably correct, however regards pruning, you can do anything you want, even commit 'crepe murder' (google if you want). Crepe myrtles are weeds, nothing can kill them.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I want to try and bring the height own

==>> presumably 'down' ...

a good start would be to define how far down ...

are you attached to the idea of the multiple trunks???

if not ... then i would probably begin a multi year rejuvenation process ... but cutting down one or two near the ground.. and watching those bud and start to grow ... and then either in fall ... or next year.. take down a couple more ....

i dont do CMs .... so i might be way off .... and if i am.. forgive me ...

if there is a lack of sun .... well ... then something else might be needed there .... but i would rejuvenate it first.. and decide on the long term in a year or two ...

ken

i didnt watch any of these ... but perhaps they will give you guidance of not the courage ... please do avoid Crape murder ... it looks that was done once..

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=crape+myrtle+rejuvenation+pruning+&t=ffcm&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos
bsmith0023 (z8b coastal SC)
Original Author
7 years ago
Ok thanks. I know the light is not the greatest but mid day that area gets a very good mount. That tree is a big reason I can grow my hydrangeas, the crepe Myrtle helps give good cover to them during the hottest part of the day.
For that reason I don’t want to bring my tree down to bare ground at all, I was thinking maybe cut them to about 6-8ft. Can I just cut it down or do anything specific?
Embothrium
7 years ago
Smaller top = less shade for the hydrangeas. And you already know it wants to grow at least 20 ft. tall. So why cut 8 ft. off of it? 8 ft. that it will immediately try to replace, after you have cut it off? With side shoots coming from the stubs where you topped it? So that it now looks like a hedge instead of a specimen tree?

Better to let it do its thing and fill in more as it ages. All trees have a size building phase that may go on for decades in the case of large growing kinds followed by a mature stage where the plant becomes denser branching and more twiggy.
bsmith0023 (z8b coastal SC)
Original Author
7 years ago
So what if I cut it down just few feet and cut the smaller shoots coming off the long branches? I agree 8ft is too short, and I don’t want it to be a shrub, but I do want it thicker on the top. Do I just trim the shooters or cut the whole thing down a feet feet too?
Embothrium
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
5 Reasons to Stop Topping Trees

https://www.plantamnesty.org/assets/docs/Cyberlibrary/Trees/5reasonstostoptopping-brochure.pdf
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
do you understand.. that by rejuvenating it.. one trunk at a time ... you build a bushier bottom.. which will grow to the height you want in a year or two .... while maintaining the height for now ....????

the rejuvenation ... with no insult to the root mass ... means it can grow explosively.. from down low ....

if you insist on murdering it ... all the power to ya ... you can always fix it later ... little dies due to pruning alone ....

ken
girlnamedgalez8a
7 years ago
In the picture it looks like it has a pretty bad scale problem. Scale is becoming a real problem here in N.TX on crepe myrtles. If that is the case then you will need to treat it for scale. If it wants to be 20 ft tall then you should let it be.