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 ...

Now’s the time of year you’re most likely to see naked crape myrtle trees, the unfortunate consequence of improper wintertime pruning. The practice has even been given a not-so-affectionate nickname: ...

This improperly pruned crape myrtle tree has undergone “crape murder,” which is when the entire crown of the crape myrtle tree is cut off. Courtesy of Leaf & Limb, a Raleigh-based tree care company ...

Over the past couple of weeks, fellow gardeners have asked that I explain how to prune crepe myrtles, as I often complain (to anyone that will listen) about neighbors following neighbors' poor pruning ...

Apparently winter has decided it’s time to make her frigid presence known, arriving in Southeast Texas for an extended period…the entire week! Fortunately for us all, winter is most often fleeting — a ...

Question: Lots of shoots are growing from the base and among the limbs of a tree form crape myrtle. Can I remove these to allow yard work? Answer: Do the needed pruning to make your crape myrtle more ...

Find out when it is too late to prune crape myrtles if you want to enjoy their flowers. Timing is everything when it comes to pruning a crape myrtle. So when is it too late to prune crape myrtles if ...

Years of improper pruning have taken their toll on this crape myrtle tree. (Alan Windham, University of Tennessee) QUESTION: While visiting a local mall, I noticed the crape myrtles had all been cut ...

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 ...