Crape murder is happening all over town. It doesn’t matter how horticulturists talk about proper pruning techniques, each year more and more trees are cut back to stubs. Standard crape myrtles have ...

I usually wait until mid-January to write something on this topic but this week I saw my first severe pruning of a crape myrtle for this dormant season earlier this month. So, instead of visions of ...

Crape myrtle blooms on new growth, so the best time to cut back these trees is in late winter, before new growth has sprouted ...

Prune crape myrtles in late winter to encourage strong new growth and flower production. Avoid pruning in spring, summer, or fall to prevent cutting off new flowers and stressing the tree. Never top ...

Somehow, the belief that crape myrtles should be brutally pruned by cutting off their tops persists, even though it's inaccurate. Crape murder is a term that has been coined to describe this severe ...

Each year I am impressed with the array and masses of color from our area crape myrtle plants. The common crape myrtle, Lagerstromia indica, is from China and Korea. It was introduced to America in ...

Not long ago, I received the following email: “I have two crape myrtle trees in my front yard, one about 25 years old and one about 10 years old. They are in full sun. They usually bloom later than ...

Dear Neil: I recently bought a house in rural East Texas. It’s on 2.5 acres of heavily forested land. I didn’t walk the entire area before the closing, and only recently have I discovered that I ...