Yes, thanks frogleg and everyone else who responded!
hc

Madgardener wrote in message
...
that was fantastic advice with a good dose of humor thrown in too!!
Thanks
Frogleg..........
madgardener
"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 00:33:37 -0500, "B & J"
wrote:

"heppiechik" jayep99atyahoodotcom wrote
.
When is the best time to prune them? I am in zone 8a.

In your zone (also true of most zones where crepes grow) it's not
necessary
to prune crepes at all. The bark on the large crepe varieties is
beautiful
during the cool/cold season. That being said, it does make sense to
remove
spent flower on them after they bloom. They bloom on new wood and will
rebloom after removing the spent blooms.

The only logical reason for pruning crepes is when they are planted in
an
area that is too small to accommodate the natural growth of the
variety.
I
have found that there are dwarf varieties (crepe myrtlettes) that work
well
with minimal pruning in limited areas. When large varieties of crepes
are
pruned in the spring in our area, it is referred to as "crepe murder."
G

Crape Murder is a term often given to "pollarding" -- the practice of
severely trimming back major branches of crape myrtles to a pretty
much bald state so as to encourage new shoots and prolific bloom.

Prune in February. In your zone, crape myrtle is a tree, not a shrub,
so start by pruning to either a single or 2-3 major stems. Remove
'suckers' -- new shoots that come from the base of the plant -- any
time. As long as you can reach the tips of branches, light pruning of
spent flower stems may encourage further blooming. Otherwise, prune
intelligently, removing inward-growing branches and those that rub
against one another to give the tree maximum air circulation and
sunlight. Once it's 20-30' tall, just cut the branches the cat uses to
become stranded on the porch roof, and let it grow and bloom at will.