Crepe myrtles, Lagerstroemia indica, vary in size from dwarf shrubs to multi-trunked and single-trunk trees growing to 30 feet tall. Most varieties produce beautiful blooms starting in spring or ...

The crepe myrtle is a spectacular tree and, if kept in good health, it can elevate the look of any garden. To ensure the tree blooms as it should come late spring, and the branches can hold the weight ...

In the picture above, it's obvious that something has gone wrong. When you drive past a heavily pruned crepe myrtle tree (occasionally spelled "crape myrtle") your impression might be that someone ...

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 ...

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 ...

Find out when it is too late to prune crape myrtles if you want to enjoy their flowers. Timing is everything when it comes to pruning a crape myrtle. So when is it too late to prune crape myrtles if ...

Apparently winter has decided it’s time to make her frigid presence known, arriving in Southeast Texas for an extended period…the entire week! Fortunately for us all, winter is most often fleeting — a ...

Too often, crape myrtles are cut back to bare trunks because this abuse will yield more flowers. This type of severe pruning results in a shorter bloom time, delayed flowering, weaker branching and ...

As a rule, trees in North Florida can be pruned any time of year. However, the winter months seem to bring out the pruning bug in many folks. Winter can be an easier time to prune as many trees have ...

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 ...