Every year I make at least one plea for folks to stop topping crapemyrtles and other trees. Out of the 70 articles I write a year, none stimulates more comments, concerns, and criticisms directed at the practice, the crapemyrtles themselves, and even me. I thought I’d take this opportunity to respond to a number of the recurring comments and also give specifics on how to properly prune a crapemyrtle.
Crape Murder
We’ll start with the most common comments.
- “You don’t know what you are talking about.”
I have bachelor’s degree in floriculture, a master’s degree in horticulture, and a Ph.D. in forestry. I grew up playing in and around old crapemyrtles. I was a founding and lifetime member of the Crape Myrtle Society of America. I even dabbled in crapemyrtle breeding and have introduced several cultivars, so yes I know what I’m talking about. - “He doesn’t even know how to spell its name!”
While friend Neil Sperry and the now defunct Crape Myrtle Society of America use crape myrtle and Southern Living magazine always used crepe myrtle, most Lagerstroemia experts and authors use crapemyrtle as one word since it’s not a true myrtle nor even related to them. - “Crapemyrtles have historically been pruned like this.”
No they weren’t. This is a widespread modern practice that has spread each year of my thirty-plus year career. I am author of The Southern Heirloom Garden and Heirloom Gardening in the South and wrote the Lagerstroemia chapter for both. I can assure you that I did a lot of research into the subject. The first crapemyrtles I ever saw topped where in Laredo, Texas when I was the Bexar County horticulturist for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in the late 1980’s. There was a time when you didn’t see this non-recommended practice outside of Texas and I would often remark that you won’t see this in Baton Rouge, Mobile, Charleston, or Savannah. Unfortunately, it has now spread all the way to the East Coast. As it began to spread, I even coined the term “crape murder” while teaching horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University in the 1990s. - “This is called pollarding. Look it up.”
I have been to Europe a number of time and witnessed the practice of pollarding. Topping a tree annually with a chainsaw is not considered pollarding. Although not common in modern times, pollarding, which yes originated as a source of stove wood for hungry folks, has historical context in parts of Europe but not here since its extremely labor intensive, not healthy for the trees, and there is precious little need for stove wood these days. - “This is a common practice in Arkansas and other states where I’ve lived.”
The reason crapemyrtles are cut back severely above Zone 8 is because they aren’t reliably cold-hardy and suffer freeze damage most winters. The most aesthetic way to deal with it is cutting them back severely, including to the ground. - “You have to remove the seed pods, or they won’t bloom.”
Incorrect. Although deadheading them as the blooms fade will stimulate quicker rebloom, pruning away spent seed pods during the winter doesn’t save the plant any energy at all. - “It doesn’t hurt them as they bloom just fine after pruning each year.”
Yes, it does hurt them, but yes, since they bloom on new wood they will bloom no matter how severely or poorly they are pruned. Removing large amounts of wood from any tree robs them of stored carbohydrates and energy reserves. It also makes them sucker more, reduces cold hardiness, creates bark inclusions, makes the blooms floppy on sappy new growth, and spreads and encourages crapemyrtle bark scale. - “They are shrubs, not trees.”
Although they are officially the “state shrub of Texas” (a mistaken choice in my opinion), the far majority of those sold, planted, and cultivated grow as multi-trunked small trees and are best treated as such. - “They got too big for the space.”
Crapemyrtle cultivars range in ultimate heights from 3-30 feet and like all trees and shrubs should be situated accordingly. Certainly it’s best to have the right plant in the right place but if they get too big, I’d either replace them with an appropriate selection or cut them to ground and start over, so they maintain the natural shape of that cultivar. However, the majority of those I see topped are out in the open where size seem irrelevant. - “They are my trees. I can cut them any way I wish!”
I agree 100%. Do as you wish. I’m not the crapemyrtle police. I’m a professional educator just trying to teach proper horticulture and arboriculture while saving energy, money, and resources.
Proper Crapemyrtle Pruning
Here’s what I do and recommend to professionals and Master Gardeners:
- Prune after winter is over, just before crapemyrtles bud out. This allows their natural form and beauty to be enjoyed during the dormant season.
- Size up every tree to understand what its natural form is. Some cultivars are spreading and some are upright. As a general rule, all small ornamental trees should be allowed to retain their natural shape and character. When you are finished, trees should look just the same as their species cultivar from a distance, in other words, like they were never pruned at all.
- Determine and mark every dead branch, crossing/rubbing branch, and branches that are in the way of foot traffic, cars, and lawn equipment. Sometimes I use paint, sometimes I use flagging tape, and sometimes I just use my memory.
- Remove each of these entire branches at the branch collar adjacent to the next largest branch using a sharp handsaw or chainsaw making sure not to leave stubs or tear bark and make sure that the overall form is natural and balanced.
- Remove all suckers as close to the ground or lower trunk as possible. If you leave stubs they will continue to resprout. Topped crapemyrtles and those damaged by string trimmers and mowers will sucker profusely in an attempt to reestablish more woody growth and foliage. It’s a slow gradual process to rein this sucker growth back in.
Lest you think I believe all crapemyrtle bushwhacking should be banned, dwarf and semi-dwarf cultivars make good “perennials” and can be cut back to a cluster of 6 to 12-inch basal branches each year allowing them to grow and bloom as dwarfish shrubs or perennials. I do this with both ‘Catawba’ and ‘Acoma.’ Wait until just before new growth begins so you don’t have to look at the stubs all winter. This doesn’t work well with the taller tree types as they are just too lanky to be shrubby perennials.
Cut Back Perennial Acoma
Crapemyrtle pruning combines both art and science. Basically, every tree should look like a floral arrangement using the principles of the leaf and flowering portion being 1 ½ times the height of the vase (the trunks) or the forestry principle of having at least 2/3 of the tree being foliage and 1/3 being trunk. Another source for accepted woody plant structure is the American Standard for Nursery Stock published by the American Horticulture Industry Association. There is no prettier trunked, gracefully branched, ornamental small tree than a crapemyrtle so it’s a shame not to take advantage of it this and let it shine. But to each his (or her) own.
Dalrymple Street Crapes
I’ll always remember the beautiful crapemyrtles in front of a nice house on Dalrymple Drive in Baton Rouge where the late horticulturist, landscape architect, and professor Dr. Neil Odenwald once told me the owner would only allow one person on the planet to prune them. I now know why. In my case, it’s me and always will be even after I’m dead and gone, as I know from experience that unpruned crapemyrtles are naturally far more attractive than those indiscriminately topped.
