On Thu, 6 May 2004 15:15:59 -0500, "RoyDMercer"
opined:

"Victor Martinez" wrote in message
...
RoyDMercer wrote:
them each year. However if you let them go they will eventually stop
blooming. The state of Oklahoma planted hundres of Crape Myrtles all
along
the southern section of I-35. They are never pruned and they have
stopped
blooming almost completely.

That's funny. My neighbor's crape mirtles have never been pruned
(they're over 25 ft tall) and they bloom beautifully each year.

There are literally hundreds of cultivars of Crepes and not all of them
behave the same. My mom has one so tall it's as high as the power lines and
it blooms each year (without pruning) also. Crepes which are that large are
really more of a tree and tend to behave a bit differently than the lower
habit shrubs which are more typical.


I beg to differ. There are only a handful of dwarf varieties and not one of
them requires the treatment of heavy pruning. A tree or shrub which flowers on
new growth does so naturally. When you cut a crape to an inch of its life, sure
it's going to bloom excessively. It is trying to make seeds to continue its own
survival in nature. It's sort of like the false economy. We are being told how
it's growing at the fastest rate, when really it's only starting to recover,
masked at recovery. Anyone with a portfolio knows what I'm talking about.

Political statement aside (Anybody But Bush), pruning crape myrtles is
absolutely not necessary for the plant to bloom.