Are you Committing Crape Murder?

Although originally from China, the crape myrtle has taken root in the Southern United States. It’s a popular tree and thrives in warmer climates. An excellent flower producer, this tree offers year-round appeal thanks to its colorful summer blooms, attractive bark and amazing fall foliage. Available in a variety of sizes and colors, it’s also an ideal addition to just about any landscape.

While considered a medium-maintenance tree, the quickest way to damage the beauty of a crape myrtle is to commit crape murder. Over-pruning can transform these strong, tall trees into ones that are weak and droopy. But, you can prevent crape myrtle murder and even bring them back from the brink of destruction.


What is Crape Murder?

Crape murder isn’t what you think. You’re not actually killing the tree. Instead, by over-pruning, you change the appearance of the tree, taking away some of its natural beauty.

When crape myrtles are pruned down to their trunks or lower branches, you’re committing crape murder. You’ll see it when ‘knuckles’ start to appear on the tree. These then cause long, whip-like branches to form which are weaker that what typically grows. These branches get extremely heavy once the tree flowers, turning what should be a tall and upright tree into one that can’t help but droop.

Over-trimming has become a common, though incorrect, practice for a variety of reasons. If a crape myrtle gets too big, it’s often pruned back too much to resize. There’s also a misconception that pruning the tree down to its trunk will increase the amount of flowers next year. All that happens is that more flowers will form lower down on the tree. If that’s what you’re looking for, you can find a crape myrtle that does that naturally.

There are even instances where a crape myrtle is over-pruned because there’s an assumption that that’s what you do to trees. Actually, it’s only a relatively small selection of greenery that needs heavy trimming.

All of these reasons for over-trimming can lead to crape myrtle murder.


How to Revive Crape Myrtle Trees 

If your crape myrtle has already formed the knuckles resulting from over-pruning, you can still revive them. To avoid crape myrtle murder, get rid of those nubby clusters so you can grow totally new shoots. You’ll still see thin, weak shoots emerge, but thinning them out will pave the way for stronger trunks. When shoots do begin to grow, prune off all but 3-4 that are evenly spaced from each other.

Once this is done, the work isn’t over. Avoiding crape murder is a long process. You’ll need to continue helping the tree regain its strength over the next two years. To do this, you prune off new shoots that emerge beyond the ones you saved initially and trim off any side branches that form on your existing shoots. This allows you to decide what shoots become strong, dominant trunks.

By the third year on the crape myrtle’s road to recovery, the tree will look like its old, strong self. Once this happens, you can go back to caring for it properly. 

Crape Myrtle Tips: Properly Trim Crape Myrtles 

You will still need to prune a healthy crape myrtle, but doing so requires a lot less off the top. Reasons for pruning should mostly revolve around problems or modifying the shape. You want to remove weak growth and any branches that turn inward to the center of the tree. To preserve the tree’s healthy, multi-stemmed form, trim down to the ground all but 2-5 canes.

General pruning should primarily get done in the winter when you can see all the branches clearly. You’ll want to remove any suckers growing near the base of the tree as well as any that have started to gain height. Trimming off side branches is also recommended.

To maintain the tree’s canopy, you can take off anywhere from 1/3 - 2/3 of the newest growth. If you want to try and encourage a second bloom, you can also prune seed pods in late July to hopefully see new flowers in September.

If at any point you need to adjust for height, don’t trim more than 2-3 feet off the topmost branches and avoid creating any stubs along the way down.

All You Need to Know About How to Maintain Crape Myrtles

Properly caring for crape myrtle trees is easy once you get past the assumption that heavy pruning is the way to go. However, if you have any care and maintenance questions, you can always get answers from local SiteOne branch associates or by accessing our online resources. When you’re ready to add a crape myrtle to the landscape, you can shop online at SiteOne.com or use our mobile app.