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California Gardening

What to do with Crepe myrtle bushes

13 years ago

In the yard I'm working on there are a couple of crepe myrtles that have been cut back over the years and are now big ungainly shrubs 5' or so tall/wide with four or five large main stems at the ground. They are not round and full but kind of flattened in front and back and are located in prominent displays by the street (maybe they were intended as some kind of screen?). I have no idea what to do with them to make them more attractive and to fit their location. Any ideas? Thanks, Pauli

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Comments (7)

gardenguru1950
13 years ago
Lucky you -- Crape myrtles happen to be one of the most easily renovated shrubs/trees.

They not only tolerate pruning, they actually respond best with serious cutting back, producing more flowers when new growth is encouraged.

Cut those crape myrtles back to four good main "trunks" each, cleaning up everything else -- all laterals, side branches, branchlets, skinny shoots, EVERYTHING.

As it puts out new growth in spring, watch for shoots going the wrong direction and snip them off and pinch to encourage shoots to go into the right directions.

All the new growth of spring will produce the flowers of sumer into fall.

Joe
hosenemesis
13 years ago
Or you could train them into single-trunked trees. I like multiple trunks better, though.
Renee
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Hi Karen - don't know if this will help, but 3 years ago, I planted crepe myrtle from seed. It bloomed the first year, I wanted to plant in ground in the fall, but called our extension office first. I was told that it is considered a semi tropical plant, and would not overwinter in the ground in zone 5. So I have been bringing it in every fall. I do the hardening off process every year, but even at that, it always looks like it's dying until about the middle of June. My point being, give it some time yet to show signs of life-you are a zone ahead of me-may start to show life in May? And don't give up on it! They are beautiful little plants. Hope someone else can chime in with some "real" advice! Shirley!
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They are mostly likely not dead. They don't even sprout here until much later than most other trees. I would definitely wait a while. Have you seen any Crepe Myrtles in the area even close to sprouting? They are all over NC. As for checking to see if they are dead, I think he old scratch test may work, but since they pretty tan barked and smooth, i'd recommend snapping a small (and i do mean small) branch and seeing if you see any green. Towards the tips where the seeds etc are may not be a good idea, but you can always try if it is bothering you. Best practice is to wait until later in the spring when most of the crepes sprout leaves. Take a picture as well...and post it here!.
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Phantom, crApe myrtles are relatively drought tolerant, but, with the weather we've been having lately, yours may be suffering from too much heat and not enough water. The damage you describe looks pretty minor in the picture. I wouldn't worry about it unless the picture doesn't really tell the whole story. I did notice that someone has totally massacred your crapes (crape murder). It will take many years for them to overcome the damage and look like crapes should look. Careful proper pruning may be able to help them along a little. I never have figured out why people do that! Anyway, if you have more questions, you might want to start a new thread so as not to get off of Sunflower_fun's original topic (winter damage).
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Melinda, the first time that I saw them for sale they were like 6 feet tall, when I went back to get them they were all gone, so I got the small one and it has grown since I got it and no, I am not going to train it as tree because I want a little bush for this location, I already got the trees around there, the lychee, oak, red bud, white mulberry. Carol, I just went to Lowes this morning and they had a lot of these dark crape myrtles varieties, they are ready to bloom and they had in different flower colors, white, pink and in my opinion the deep red color and that is what I have is the prettiest! Silvia
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gardenguru1950
13 years ago
Something important I forgot to mention...

Do this serious pruning in January-February. Not now.

Joe
corar4gw
13 years ago
guru1950 has some good advice, but I've found that merely shaping the crepe myrtle as you would a hedge, still gives a lush flowering. When my tree gets too tall for my 6' ladder, it should maintain it's nice shape atop four clean, straight trunks.
A crepe myrtle can get quite tall, given the opportunity. I hate to see these lovely, hardy trees near cut in half each spring. Many call it "crepe murder".
cora in Florida
gardenguru1950
13 years ago
Here in California, we take adavantage of crape myrtle's bloom-on-new-wood habit by encouraging as much new wood each spring as possible. Serious pruning helps that. My advice given previously refers to a one-time renovation; I'm not suggesting hacking back the crape myrtle EVERY year. But cutting out piddly growth each winter makes for a shaplier, more graceful tree.

Also here in California, most good gardeners frown on whacking small trees into balls, cones, hedges and such. We especially like the beautiful trunk structure and bark of crape myrtles and do what we can to show that off.

We're also fortunate to have access to a wide selection of crape myrtle cultivars -- some do get to be large trees (40 feet or so), some are small trees (15 to 20 feet or so) and some are even shrubs ("myrlettes"; under 6 feet).

Joe
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
13 years ago
Crepe myrtle are certainly tolerant of pruning, both good and bad. Part of the beauty of Crepe myrtle is the beautiful color and shape of the trunks. For most locations pruning to support multiple trunks is the most attractive. The amount of bloom for most species will be directly proportionate to the amount of sunshine they receive. They should not have to reach for the sun. Al
chadinlg Zone 9b Los Gatos CA
13 years ago
There are many hybrids which range from small ground cover to small to medium shrub, large shrub, small tree, etc. Mostly we just see the Tree size ones here and in the Nurseries. If you have a true shrub type it will top out at less than 5 feet, I have several which I can't see getting over 3 feet even without pruning.

What's the point... In my experience the shrub ones do not have the pretty bark, and so are better not pruned to show their legs so to speak...

I have dug some up (nasty chore as they have really thick strong roots which seem to go almost straight down) to move them (amazingly most have survived - did this in winter), and have had the roots I left in the ground re-sprout... talk about shovel pruning...

Chad

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