In article , Cindy
wrote:

Jim Jennings wrote:
I prune mine in the spring, just before the buds come out, only
because I enjoy the weather better then than in January.

You see them topped all over town, and I read somewhere, don't remember
where, that that is a terrible thing to do. ?

I guess by "topped" you mean chopped off at some height. Yes, I see
that a lot. I don't do that because I think it is ugly, but I don't
know if it is bad for Crape Myrtle.

When I prune in the spring I remove the dead twigs at their base, I
remove suckers and branches that are too low, and I may remove a few
other branches to maintain a pleasing shape.

--
Jim Jennings, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin
reply to jim dot jennings at beg dot utexas dot edu