Is is OK to trim these now? If so, would the tree bloom "again".

Stop the Crape Murder!

kind of a tag along question, we get white fungus on our every year? anything to do about it?

A little pruning that removes the previous years past blooms is ok but the ideal time for that was two months ago. I missed it this year and since mine are pretty much in the shape I want, eh forget it. It's too late if you want to go Friday the 13th on them.

I am trying to clean up the backyard and just recently noticed a couple that were pretty close to our neighbors bushes, so I need to trim them. I won't go crazy, but I also want to be a "team" player. Obviosuly this is the worst time to trim, but I just don't want to kill them.

Trimming will only really impact the blooms. It is a tough tree to kill. Trim it up some is ok, but if you trim it alot, you may not get blooms. Trim before new growth and after last freeze.

I think I read somewhere, that someone mentioned that if you had a real ugly one (crape murder), you could cut it down to the soil line and start over if you wanted too. Pretty hardy.

I let mine grow out for shade and height.

I had my tree guy cut it back 100% last week. There's not a branch/leaf left...only the main trunks. Guaranteed I'll have blooms in a few months and be cussing the crape myrtles. Nice blooms, but those damn things grow FAST!

I would wait until they branch out and bloom. I always cut them back a little after they bloom to promote re-blooming. Never have understood the topping practice.

Most of the legitimate tree pruning companies do not recommend decapitating them. Besides it looks like absolute sh^t to have what looks like butchered, tall thin stumps in your yard the first 3 months of the year IMHO.

Good Lord, people, if you want a short crape myrtle, buy a short variety - there aren't but about 100 different ones! The only real trimming that should be done on one is to take off the old seed heads, and any branches growing "through the middle of the tree from side to side" (for lack of a better term). You can take off small suckers and low branches at any time of year, but it cannot possibly be good for a tree to decapitate it every year.

We have crape myrtle on the west side of our house. They are at least 30 feet tall and cast beautiful shade on our home!

Like the article states and a couple others have posted, don't do it...let them grow! My wife's uncle teaches horticulture at the local JC, and he adamently argues that crape myrtles should not be topped. He says that removing chutes from the lower extermities of the main branches is okat, but leave the upper growth alone.

quote:

---

kind of a tag along question, we get white fungus on our every year? anything to do about it?

---

http://msucares.com/newsletters/pests/infobytes/19990528.htm

All crepe myrtles get POWDERY MELDEW. It is due to the wet soil. Spray with a good fungecide once a month beginning now. You may still end up with some but it does control it better. Since we are already in drought conditions. it will be very active this year, so you may have to spray every two weeks for a while. NEVER CAP CUT a crepe myrtle.

Cutting them does not stop their growth, they will grow back to the exact same size as they were or bigger (until they reach their mature size). just trim up the inside branches (or the suckers).

We trimmed the lower scraggly bits about this time last year to make it more of a tree shape. Didn't touch the top canopy area. We had a Natchez White at our old house and it was probably close to 11 or 12 feet by the time we moved. LOVED the shade! We have a Party Pink or something now and it has leafed nicely, so hopefully it will bloom! (was planted in new construction in Sept.)

I don't think you can screw this up. I have Pulled the *******s out but the roots only to have remnants sprout and regrow. I have cut them off at ground level and they will grow back. So you can start over whenever is you mess it up