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crepe myrtles
When is the best time to prune them? I am in zone 8a.
Thanks |
#2
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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. |
#3
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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 |
#4
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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. |
#5
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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/ |
#6
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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. |
#7
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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. |
#8
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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. |
#9
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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. |
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