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pruning Crepe Myrtle

18 years ago

I'm NOT one of those crazy Crepe Myrtle "beheaders" but need to know how and when to prune our small one near our front door. It has 3 trunks and stands about 4 1/2 to 5 ft. tall but is very much encroaching upon our sidewalk and front door area! I really want it to grow UP for a little while and then OUT. How and when do I prune it?? Thanks!

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Comments (2)

Nurmey
18 years ago
I can't grow CM in my zone so I don't have a answer for you but I popped in because my first thought was "OH NO!" one of those people. I am so glad you stated you are not a mutilator! I hate to see butchered CM, poor things. I'm sure someone with experience will pop in soon to give you an answer. Good luck!
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
18 years ago
The best time to prune is after the leaves have all fallen and you can see the 'bare bones' of your tree. It makes it much easier to stand back,take a good long look at your tree, and decide which branches you need to remove to accomplish your goal.

In many instances, it is possible to thin out or shape a crape myrtle with just a few simple cuts. Decide which branches are interfering with your comfort zone, and cut them back to the nearest upward growing secondary branch. Never leave a stub. In other words, cut a branch off at the shoulder, not at the elbow. Or cut a finger off at the hand, not at the knuckle. Stubs aren't good.

With crape myrtles, it is possible to reduce the spread and still enhance their natural beauty. Think in terms of that beautiful infrastructure. Take your two hands and hold them in front of you. Place your wrists together, the two little fingers and your thumbs together, while keeping the palms and other fingers open and wide spread. You should have created a sort of 'vase' with your hands. Imagine that to be the main skeleton of your crape myrtle. It is easy, then, to imagine that you have all sorts of other branches sticking way out, way in, crossing all over each other, etc. Prune to enhance that open vase.

Does that make ANY sense??? LOL
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One problem with pruning crApe myrtle roots (in addition to the normal drawbacks of such a practice), is that crApes frequently sprout back up from root pieces left in the ground. So, the plant will try to grow a new plant just about everywhere you cut a root. BTW, it is very likely that the excess watering has contributed to the surface roots. Crape myrtles don't need much water and their roots will grow preferentially near the surface where they can't get sufficient gas exchange at lower soil levels.
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Well, IMO, there are a couple of things you can do to highlight your crApe's bark. First thing I'd do is select somewhere between 3 and 7 trunks. Having more trunks is too busy looking (at least to me) and tends to distract from each individual trunk (and therefore the bark). Also, by limiting the crape to fewer trunks, each trunk will grow somewhat larger, and do so a little quicker, than for multi-stemmed specimens. Larger trunks will display bark better. The other thing is to limb up the trunks, eliminating foliage on the lower 1/3 (or at least a few feet) of each trunk. Lower foliage blocks the view of the bark and makes crapes look more shrubbish than multi-trunked treeish. This post was edited by brandon7 on Mon, Feb 4, 13 at 20:43
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Are you perhaps located in a coastal location that doesn't get much summer heat? They can be shy bloomers if it never gets hot enough to encourage blooming. Around here in Berkeley, they only bloom well with reflected heat or no direct coastal winds, while just over the hills in places like Walnut Creek, they are just covered with flowers already. If heat and enough water to encourage good growth is not the issue, try fertilizing them more regularly.
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lets talk about the elephant in the room ... and outside the box you are sitting in .... the invasive.. in some areas.. clematis ... https://www.google.com/search?q=autumn+clematis&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=autumn+clematis+invasive first ... if its the problem ... then cut it to 3 to 6 inches .. and get it out of there ... with no insult to the root mass .. it will be about half as big next year ... second ... any plant can be moved ... timing is key.. and the cement patio has nothing to do with it .... obviously you have no experience with such based on your comments ... but it can be done ... walk thru any nursery... they would have no business if plants couldnt be moved ... might it be worthwhile to hire a landscaper to move it for you ..??? btw .. vines are easier to pull out of things.. if you cut them.. and let them dry ... so they lose their grip ... so cut it in late fall ... and leave it for winter.. then go get that thing out of there .... ken
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