I usually wait until mid-January to write something on this topic but this week I saw my first severe pruning of a crape myrtle for this dormant season earlier this month. So, instead of visions of ...

Prune crape myrtles in late winter to encourage strong new growth and flower production. Avoid pruning in spring, summer, or fall to prevent cutting off new flowers and stressing the tree. Never top ...

Prune crape myrtles in late winter to encourage strong new growth and flower production. Avoid pruning in spring, summer, or fall to prevent cutting off new flowers and stressing the tree. Never top ...

Somehow, the belief that crape myrtles should be brutally pruned by cutting off their tops persists, even though it's inaccurate. Crape murder is a term that has been coined to describe this severe ...

Introduced from China, crape myrtles have been grown in the U.S. since the American Revolution and were well-established on plantations throughout the South before the Civil War. Old, unpruned crape ...

Crape murder is happening all over town. It doesn’t matter how horticulturists talk about proper pruning techniques, each year more and more trees are cut back to stubs. Standard crape myrtles have ...