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View Full Version : Crape Myrtles, too high.


john_ny
09-05-2008, 06:19 PM
In trying to avoid comitting Crape murder (butchering Crape Myrtles by pruning too heavily) I now have plants where the most flowers are 15 to 20 feet off the ground. Except for some rare branches that hang down, like this one, you really can't see the flowers unless you walk along with your head cocked back at a 45º angle. Does anyone have some pruning suggestions for Crapes?
Thanks

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=12972&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=12972)

turtile
09-07-2008, 08:39 AM
If you have the space, you can tie weights to the branches so the flowers hang downwards.

Lagniappe
09-07-2008, 08:57 AM
I've watched some of the most aggressive pruning with crepe myrtles . The landscapers at the malls and hotels will sometimes be on ladders or thier truck beds with chainsaws cutting them down to half the original size .When they leave there is little more than a 6-8' pole left .

Richard
09-07-2008, 10:07 AM
The pruning mantra is "Thin, don't Trim". For every branch that is too tall or too long on a bush or tree, find where it originates and remove it there.

mskitty38583
09-07-2008, 12:45 PM
you dont want to remove more then a third of the overall growth.

Randy4ut
09-07-2008, 02:17 PM
John,
Selective pruning is the best for crepes as Richard stated. All too often they are like you said, crepe murdered and can actually damage the plant in the long run. Selectively remove the tallest limbs and work your way down to a manageable size. Depending on the type of crepe you have, most eventually grow into small trees. I have seen some beautiful ones around town that are carefully pruned and reach heights of 30 feet... Then again, like my neighbor who murders his each year that have that huge polyp at about 6' or so and then some spindly braches on top and they look pitiful... I actually went out earlier today and took out the newer shoots from the ground and left about 4-6 straight ones and just pruned the laterals up to about 4'. Mine are still small (8') but hopefully within the next couple of years, with careful pruning, they will be nice looking crepes that I will be proud of... Best of luck with yours...

john_ny
09-07-2008, 04:12 PM
Thanks for the help. I guess I'll have to try some type of thinning. This could prove somewhat difficult, because some of them (like the pink one in the picture) have only something like three 3" diameter stems, at ground level, and then branch, mostly at ten feet or more. I've had these for many years.