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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Question: Crape myrtles have been beautiful in our landscape. If we prune off the faded flower stems do the plants produce more blooms? Answer: Get ready for another round of flowers if you trim off ...

Though springtime in Lancaster County is greeted by a spectrum of blooming trees and shrubs, late-summer color can be hard to come by. Fortunately, in Lancaster County, we can grow crape myrtle, a ...

Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) is a multitrunk shrub to small summer-flowering tree that has intrigued me for years. Growing up, I noticed it as my family traveled to the Eastern Shore for ...

Sudden plunges into arctic temperatures don't give plants time to become hardened to the cold. Here's what could happen to ...

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 ...

Question: Several crape myrtles in our yard are shedding lots of bark. Is this normal? Answer: Not only are crape myrtles with shedding bark normal — but beautiful. Often under the outer layer of old ...