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We have a couple of these trees in our front yard and I would like to trim/prune them. Can somebody please help me identify the tree and give me some pruning tips.
We have a couple of these trees in our front yard and I would like to trim/prune them. Can somebody please help me identify the tree and give me some pruning tips. Attachment 76556
You have yourself a Crape Myrtle, one of the most common and loveliest trees in the South.
Some folks hack them back severely, as low as a couple of feet off the ground, and permanently destroy the shape, kind of like foot-binding. That practice is called "Crape Murder."
PLEASE don't murder your crapes. If you find you really hate them that much, post to Craigslist and someone will come by and dig them out and remove them for free.
The only pruning it needs, if any, is some thinning of branches to reduce interior clutter, and possibly the removal of any sucker sprouts from the ground.
I gave up on a couple of the sucker sprouts, as the last couple popped out repeatedly and last year grew 5 feet.
Some folks clip the very ends of the twigs, hoping to improve blooms.
I wouldn't waste time pruning unless something is seriously out of kilter. We have four Myrtles in front of our home and after planting them 15 years ago I've never touched them. They bloom reliably every year in mid to late summer. DOT uses them in roadside plantings so they must be tough :-) . The only problems I've seen is the Japanese beetles tend to like them and an occasional powdery mildew problem.
If so there is a great resource @ UNC's Botanical Garden.
They have a library & many days during the week they have gardeners on staff who can help you with identifying plants, care and other questions.
You might want to sign up for their e-mails. While too late for you this time, they actually had a really good pruning workshop about a month ago. I imagine they will offer it again at some point.
The link to Southern Living was a good, short and concise, description of how to prune a Crepe Myrtle. The practical take home message is that they can be left alone and do fine but if you think yours has become misshapen or is not growing the way you would like, clean out crossing limbs (they rub and can do damage to each other) suckers and branches that go horizontal. Generally the flowers will be produced on the most recent growth (last year's new stems) so don't hack off everything right now to make it neat. Clean off any remaining old flower/seed pods and leave it be for a season. I do minimal trimming and found there were even flowers on brand new growth on mine.
I am glad I found out this is a crepe myrtle. We moved to this house recently and while I love the blooms, one of the trees is misshaped (guessing because it is in a somewhat shaded area). Overall our front yard looks pretty cluttered with the landscaping that was put in place some years ago and not cared for.
If pruning them reduces their blooms and hurts them, I'll just leave them alone (besides the interior trimming mentioned) and see if there are other things that can be cleared up a bit.
@ZimaCheryl: Thank you! I'll look up the Botanical garden and sign up for their emails.
@Mike:Thank you for the link to Souther Living. I will make sure I do not commit Crepe murder!
@frankpc: You are right - I have seen them on the roads. We moved here from CA a couple of years ago and I remember thinking how pretty they were.
Yup, those are crepe myrtles, if you'd like, I'll give you directions and you can come over here and see how mine are pruned, I'm just a bit on the other side of Durham from you, D.M. me for directions. Also give me a chance to show off my garden, nothing planted in it yet, just got it tilled up this afternoon.
We have a couple of these trees in our front yard and I would like to trim/prune them. Can somebody please help me identify the tree and give me some pruning tips. Attachment 76556
A lot of people crop those, but I have seen several Crape Myrtle go downhill from topping. Since they are sort of like little trees, you might find something useful in this collection of tips:
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