On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 23:28:24 GMT, "KCnRichmond"
wrote:

Just dont top them... If you want a certain height, get that kind...Crape
Murder...........Opens the tree to all kinds of fungus & disease........

Around here, we use the term "Crape Murder" for pollarding. That is,
pruning back everything to a few main stubs, which encourages new
growth and bloom at the cut point each year. It makes the trees look
*awful* for half the year, and the constant cutting increases the risk
of disease.

Where Crape Myrtles are "root hardy," and die back each winter, they
will naturally be the bush form. For tree form, trim off all but a few
main stems at the base. I have one 30' tree that's a single trunk up
to about 4', and another 20-25' that's 3 intertwined main 'stems.'
Recently heard you're supposed to leave an odd number to grow, 'though
I have no clue why.