Comments on: Stop Crape Murder: Don’t Cut Back Your Myrtles

By: Gene Carter

Gene Carter — Sat, 25 Dec 2021 18:45:20 +0000

We have two crepe myrtles 25 years old and the base/trunks are so big they are grotesque. You think I can cut these back to about 6 inches above and they would look ok as a low growing shrub after sprouting again ? Or is this just crazy idea ??

By: Sasha Ackley

Sasha Ackley — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 20:00:28 +0000

I planted two Lagerstroemia Tuscarora Multi last summer. They were about 5 ft tall. We had a bad ice storm and they didn’t bud in the spring for the longest time. The main trunks seemed dead 1/2 way up and they were producing tons of new suckers. So I cut the dead branches back and let the suckers grow and bloom etc. I was going to just thin out the suckers and see if I could make it look like a tree again. Any advice?.

By: Larry Weeks

Larry Weeks — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 14:01:49 +0000

Live in the south My CM are 9 years old 15’ tall.The leaves turned yellow/brown and not blooming very much.Sprayed them with copper fungicide after they started blooming(should be done just before blooming as I found out to late).Can they be saved?Have 16 trees and all are looking bad.Was told to cut down but don’t really want to do that if they can be healthy again.What to do?Much Thanks Larry Weeks

By: sandra

sandra — Sat, 17 Jul 2021 01:06:46 +0000

I had a old very tall CM .. The extreme freeze we had this winter all but killed it. It had the most beautiful egg shape covered in blooms. New growth has began perhaps 3 feet tall. How do i remove dead dome to get the same shape as before? I would guess the CM to be 15 plus years old maybe 20 feet tall at point..

By: Margie Jefferson

Margie Jefferson — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 01:13:35 +0000

I have a beautiful acoma weeping myrtle that is beautiful and healthy. It is cut back every two or three years. It was cut this March, it is full and weeping beautifully. It has thousands of starting to bloom white flowers. I have always cut trees back that was struggling to perform. It has worked great for me all of my trees and shrubs are beautiful.
.

By: BigRed

BigRed — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 20:17:20 +0000

“JIMMY on Long Island “
His comment from 2020..
Sounds like my new plan!

Thank you Jimmy.

By: BigRed

BigRed — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 20:13:17 +0000

I wish someone would please address this issue that was raised by an earlier commenter :

When older trees haven’t been pruned in years, and are not blooming well..
HOW SHOULD THEY BE PRUNED TO ENCOURAGE NEW BLOOMING?

because although people complain about “crepe murder” , I’ve noticed that if you prune neglected crape myrtles back hard ( manslaughter as opposed to murder 1), they will start blooming again, like crazy.

By: Jo Vogel

Jo Vogel — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 17:10:56 +0000

I fight the mites every year. They turn the leaves black and I cringe every time I have to mix up pesticides to put around the tree. What causes them to attack the trees? I then have a infestation of flies feeding on the mites. Help!

By: Jan Wasserman

Jan Wasserman — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 19:37:43 +0000

We have several Crape Myrtle trees, in Southern California. They have always bloomed beautifully, but this year there are hardly any blooms and some of the trees have no blooms. I think they are about 15 years old. Should we feed them something? Any help would be appreciated. I’m so sad not to have the beautiful flowers.
They are all different trees, I don’t know what subspecies.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 19:39:26 +0000

Moved to new home in Alabama and have several Crape Myrtles that have not been taken care of in along time. When is the best time of year to prune back these beautiful trees/ out of control Crape Myrtles?