Spring brings about flowers with colors as vivid as though they jumped right out of Dr. Seuss’s book, The Lorax. It will bring the unfurling of leaves that look as though they are stretching their arms from a restful nap, and the warm breeze that carries along the unmistakeable scent of “green” from freshly mowed turf. But did you know that hidden amidst all the beauty of spring lurks a sinister epidemic just waiting to rear it’s sharpened shears? Every spring we see it, every spring we try to spread the word and prevent it, and yet it returns annually, and seemingly with a vengeance. What is this monstrosity of which I speak? It is none other than the travesty, the horror, the undeserved and unnecessary hacking and topping of a Crape Myrtle. Those of us in the nursery business believe “Crape Murder” should be a contender in the list of “The Seven Deadliest Sins”.
(Crape Myrtles, waiting to go to a good home and hoping to avoid tragedy.)
 Take a look at the picture below and maybe you will be able to see that this is just plain wrong. While everything else during spring is busy getting stronger and prepared to take on new buds and blooms, this poor specimen looks like the unfortunate kid who got a bad haircut the day before starting a new school! It stands here looking like a dog who has to wear the “cone of shame” around his neck after a surgery. And even when the new growth begins to sprout out of it’s chopped limbs, it will fan out in multiple, wispy branches looking like a bad comb-over waving in the wind. Okay, I think you get my point. This just isn’t the way to “prune” your Crape Myrtle. Not only have we embarrassed our tree by topping it off, we have given it permanent scars too! Do not be persuaded by your landscaping company that this is the correct thing to do. If they insist, give them the boot.
(Noooooooooo! These people have thinned out the bottom support limbs correctly, but look what they’ve done to the top! This has cost them about a month of blooms.)
Here’s the thing, this crime is mostly committed by well-meaning, but ill-informed, individuals who believe that pruning the tops of a Crape Myrtle will yield a healthier, more profusely blooming tree come summertime and yet nothing is further from the truth. Crape Myrtles are actually best left in their natural state. You won’t get more blooms in the summer by hacking off the tops of your tree. You will only get smaller blooms and they will be produced on thin, spindly new growth that will have difficulty holding up the heavier bloom stack and will most likely snap from the weight. Doesn’t sound like a very good trade-off to me!
(Wouldn’t you rather have this beautiful bloom grow on a sturdy branch, than risk it snapping and falling to it’s death?)
I think we should start calling it “tidying up” our Crape Myrtles, rather than pruning them. Pruning a Crape Myrtle is only done for aesthetic reasons, not out of necessity, and this should never include “topping off”, which is by far the worst and most threatening practice. Pruning aesthetically should only be for: crossing canes, bottom suckers, and to thin out the trunks of younger trees. Pruning crossing limbs opens up your canopy, and pruning bottom suckers reduces the Crape Myrtle’s desire to revert to it’s natural growth habit that is actually more shrub-like. Thinning the trunks of younger trees (leaving 3-7 sturdy trunks and cutting the others down to the ground), give the Crape Myrtle a more “tree-like” appearance and also reduces the amount of suckers you want to clean up annually. Whenever you are pruning any limbs, they should be cut flush with the limb they are coming out of, or down to the ground if you are pruning trunks. No sealant is required or advised.
(Here is someone letting their Crape Myrtle revert back to it’s “shrub-like” habit. See the bottom suckers that have been allowed to grow wild? Not necessarily a bad thing, but aesthetically you cannot see the smooth, slender bark as well as you could if the smaller branches on the bottom were cleaned up a bit. The home and rest of the landscape is also masked through the lower brandhes.)
Besides the thought that hacking a Crape Myrtle will give them bigger blooms, a lot of people chop them up because they have “just gotten too big”. I implore you, if you are thinking of buying a Crape Myrtle, do your research! Crape Myrtles not only come in a variety of stunning colors, but they also come in a wide range of heights. You can find a Crape Myrtle that reaches only 3 feet, or one that soars to 30 feet plus. You wouldn’t try to squeeze three cars into a one car garage, would you? Or hack off a bumper here and there to make the cars fit? Take note of where you want to plant your tree and then buy the correct size for that space. Problem solved, you are welcome.
(Ahhhh! I will be coming back to take a picture of this Crape Myrtle in the summer. Trunks were thinned to create limbs that are slender, smooth and sturdy. Canopy is left alone to grow, spread, and flower the way it should. The small, dried, bloom twigs will excise themselves.)
If you could have two crape myrtles side by side in your lawn, one that had been subjected to “Crape Murder” by being topped off year after year, and one that had been left alone to grow and be accepted for what it was with nary a slice made to a limb, I think you would be astounded at the comparison. Even a Crape Myrtle that has had pruning wounds inflicted upon it only once, will never be as strong nor as beautiful as one that has never had that experience. Some say that it would even be better to cut an abused Crape Myrtle down to it’s base and start over rather than continue the cycle. Extreme? Perhaps, but so is the thought of hindering, even a little bit, the unparalleled beauty of our most prolific summer bloomer. Think on it, and then we hope you will join our crusade to get the word out and stop the madness.
-The Happy Gardener- (guilt-free)
-Lisa Mulroy
I pruned the top of my crepe myrtles before finding this article. What can I do now to make sure it blooms pretty? IThe leaves are coming out very full.
What does “awaiting moderation” mean?
This just meant your comment was received an waiting for response.
I GOT THE MESSAGE
With our house we inherited 4 large crape myrtles. The trunks are 4ft tall with a gnarly knob on top, evidence of major pruning. Not knowing or inquiring about proper care we followed suit and cut everything back to the knob. From now on I will remove the suckers around the base and let nature do its thing.
Terrific! Glad you will start implementing the correct way to prune a crape myrtle! Thanks for reading!
It will most likely still bloom. The new growth will still look full with leaves and blooms, but pruning by topping crape myrtles causes structural damage and weakness. Continual pruning by topping the trees causes unsightly, bulbous knobs at the cut site and weakened limbs that start to droop from the weight of blooms. Just adjust your pruning method in the future.
Hello, I need to have my crepe myrtle trimmed by a professional. I agree with you that “crepe murder” is atrocious. Could you recommend a company with an arborist who can do the job right. I’m in San Antonio. Thanks
Hi Max,
We can attest to the quality of Bartlett Tree Experts, and Bare Nature Tree Surgeons, as we have experienced some of their work at our nursery. However, I do not know their price range for residential work.
Can I plant several crape Myrtle’s together in a 6 foot area. I really want to mix the colors I have together.
Hi Linda,
A 6 foot area is not a lot of space for multiple crape myrtles to grow and thrive. What type of crape myrtles are you talking about? They range widely in size and shape. If you plant too many together, you will have them crowding each other out, and air flow will be restricted and that can cause fungal/disease issues. If you want more of a screening planting, like a hedge for privacy, you till need to space out your crape myrtles correctly. Crape Myrtles that grow over 20 feet tall will need six to eight feet between each plant. Smaller crape myrtles like 6-12 footers may only need four to six feet between each plant. If you have the miniatures varieties, you still need to allow two to three feet.
I have a very low hanging blooming branch on one side my crepe Myrtle. Should I trim it off or leave it.
Hi Karen,
This is really an aesthetic preference. If the limb makes your crape myrtle look awkward and uneven, you can trim it back. Take a look at our YouTube video for some proper pruning tips, including how to get that limb off correctly.
I have a gorgeous old crape, which I have painstakingly trimmed but never murdered. But now it is just too tall, what are my options?
Hi Pia,
I don’t know how old or big your crape myrtle currently is, but transplanting it in fall to an area that can provide adequate space is a painstaking option, and there is a technique that takes the crape myrtle down to the ground basically starting over, but I doubt you are interested in doing that. Otherwise,– you can try to selectively choose some of the longest limbs to prune out in late winter/early spring. But keep in mind extreme topping of Crape Myrtles results in a tree with none of the qualities admired in the Crape myrtle. It won’t form exfoliating bark and bloom production is severely limited. That’s why it is som important to research the mature growth of a plant to know it will be planted in the proper spot. Sorry.
I thought crape myrtles only bloom on new wood. That is why I believed all the old blooms on each branch need to be pruned off.
Is this not true?
Lynne
New growth will be put out on the limbs in spring. It’s not necessary to cut off the old blooms, but it is a choice. Tip pruning throughout the growing season can be completed to clean up old flowers and seed capsules. In older types of crape myrtles, this tip pruning may stimulate new flowers during that growing season. But new growth will be put out the following spring. Tip pruning is generally unnecessary in newer cultivars that bloom repeatedly without any pruning.