Greetings All,

I have several Crate Myrtles at my house and I was wondering if anyone could
advise as to when the best time to trim these back would be? I seem to
remember my neighbors doing this about this time last year, but a few Google
searches I did said to cut right after they bloom (Before August?). Some
central Texas specific advice would be appreciated (if applicable).

Thanks!
David

No science in my thought, but I generally cut mine back in January.
After all the leaves are gone and all of the twigs" snap"

"David" wrote in message
news
Greetings All,

I have several Crate Myrtles at my house and I was wondering if anyone
could
advise as to when the best time to trim these back would be? I seem to
remember my neighbors doing this about this time last year, but a few
Google
searches I did said to cut right after they bloom (Before August?). Some
central Texas specific advice would be appreciated (if applicable).

Thanks!
David

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

The advice to prune "right after blooming" might be for something else.
Sometimes you can get them to bloom a second time in a season by
pruning the first set of blooms just after they fade.

BTW, they are called Crape (not Crate) Myrtles...


In article , jojo
wrote:

No science in my thought, but I generally cut mine back in January.
After all the leaves are gone and all of the twigs" snap"

"David" wrote in message
news
Greetings All,

I have several Crate Myrtles at my house and I was wondering if anyone
could
advise as to when the best time to trim these back would be? I seem to
remember my neighbors doing this about this time last year, but a few
Google
searches I did said to cut right after they bloom (Before August?). Some
central Texas specific advice would be appreciated (if applicable).

Thanks!
David





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

BTW, they are called Crape (not Crate) Myrtles...

I'm so stupid

In article ,
"David" wrote:

BTW, they are called Crape (not Crate) Myrtles...

I'm so stupid



No... You are smart enough to post here and learn... ;-)

Just like the rest of us!

virtual hug
--
K.

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.

The advice to prune "right after blooming" might be for something
else. Sometimes you can get them to bloom a second time in a season by
pruning the first set of blooms just after they fade.

BTW, they are called Crape (not Crate) Myrtles...


Supposedly if you prune off the flower heads before they make seed, the tree
will rebloom nicer, so I do that to my small crape myrtle.

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

Cindy

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

The advice to prune "right after blooming" might be for something else.
Sometimes you can get them to bloom a second time in a season by
pruning the first set of blooms just after they fade.

BTW, they are called Crape (not Crate) Myrtles...

BTW, I forgot to ask. How far is everyone pruning these back?

Thanks,
David

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

Cindy wrote:

Supposedly if you prune off the flower heads before they make seed, the tree
will rebloom nicer, so I do that to my small crape myrtle.

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


Yes, that is called "Crape Murder".

The beauty of them is they are supposed to look good year round with
their nice limb shapes (unless they are topped), and then they look like
amputees.

Flower head tips can be cropped for better bloom though.

BTW, I forgot to ask. How far is everyone pruning these back?

Thanks,
David

See Jim Jennings' answer above. Just prune them for shape, don't whack them
off all even at head level like the hired gardeners do all over town! That
looks terrible.....

Cindy

These are popular enough trees that you can just look at these in
landscapes that are professionally cared for, such as businesses, some
yards, etc. and see what and when they are doing this. I haven't seen
them trimmed back in the summer. You can also see what these trees
look like the rest of the year and decide if this suits you. I have
some at work that are cared for, plus several yards on my way to work
that are obviously done by the pros, when I put in some of these trees
I'll use these as my "guide".


On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 10:13:01 -0600, "David" wrote:

Greetings All,

I have several Crate Myrtles at my house and I was wondering if anyone could
advise as to when the best time to trim these back would be? I seem to
remember my neighbors doing this about this time last year, but a few Google
searches I did said to cut right after they bloom (Before August?). Some
central Texas specific advice would be appreciated (if applicable).

Thanks!
David