crepe myrtles
 

When is the best time to prune them? I am in zone 8a.
Thanks

crepe myrtles
 

heppiechik wrote:

When is the best time to prune them? I am in zone 8a.
Thanks


I'm in zone 8b. Here the city has them planted along many streets.
They prune in the very early spring, while it is still fairly cold,
before their new shoots appear. I'm not sure exactly when, possibly
around the first of March. If you are going cut them back severely that
might be a good time. They bloom on new wood, new shoots or at the end
of the branches. After bloom, I prune moderately anytime with good results.

crepe myrtles
 

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

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

John

crepe myrtles
 

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.

crepe myrtles
 

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 11:55:36 GMT, Frogleg wrote:



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.
grow and bloom at will.
The practice I most often see applied to crapes is called "topping."
Pollarding is a distinct and different practice that involves
carefully training the plant to have pollard heads. Each year, the
two-year growth is removed but the one-year growth is not. There are
always some branches there to produce NRG, but the healing wounds
eventually create large, distinctive "knobs" at the pruning sites. I
believe it developed in Europe centuries ago as a way to produce
firewood (generally applied to larger trees for that purpose).

Topping, OTOH, annually removes all the branches down to a
hat-rack-like skeleton. In the process, all the NRG-producing leaves
are removed and the plant must rely on stored reserves to recover.
Gradually these reserves are depleted and the plant dies prematurely.
In the case of large trees, it often occurs when someone erroneously
assumes their tree is "too tall" and might fall over. In fact, trees
are designed to be tall and will not break just because they get to a
certain height (though, of course, there are examples of trees
--pecans especially spring to mind--that tend to oversprawl and break,
but the solution is to lightly thin the tips, not top the branches
back to a large stub). Once topped, the prophecy is fulfilled: the
regrowth is poorly attached and, if left to get large enough, will be
very likely to break off in a strong wind or similar extreme
conditions.

Otherwise, I agree with Frogleg. Don't prune unless the branches are
hitting your roof or poking you in the eye and it will become a very
nice, intricately shaped tree. Incidentally, snipping the spent
flower stalks is common and relatively harmless, but I find it to be
unnecessary, as well.

Keith
For more info about the International Society of Arboriculture, please visit http://www.isa-arbor.com/home.asp.
For consumer info about tree care, visit http://www.treesaregood.com/

crepe myrtles
 

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.

crepe myrtles
 

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 13:57:58 -0400, "Madgardener"
wrote:

that was fantastic advice with a good dose of humor thrown in too!! Thanks
Frogleg..........

Mad -- I cribbed from our local gardening advice site for the actual
pruning info. The adventurous cat is sleeping beside me. See
http://home.earthlink.net/~j57moore/

The pic was taken when the tree was leafless, but you can see the
connection.

crepe myrtles
 

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.

crepe myrtles
 

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 09:06:52 -0500, "heppiechik" jayep99atyahoodotcom opined:

When is the best time to prune them? I am in zone 8a.
Thanks


I never prune mine. In the early spring, which is around February here in Texas
8b, I remove anything which is growing inward and any branches which are smaller
than a pencil in diameter. It is not recommended they be knobbed, as you see
being done on commercial landscapes and too many homeowners crapes.