PART II: Crepe Murder

Part II: Crepe Murder

There are right ways and wrong ways to prune a crepe myrtle. It's okay to remove the very small lower shoots at ground level and up to eye level on a crepe myrtle that has reached about 8 feet in height. But never lop the top of the tree off. Dr. Suess never had the Lorax speak for these trees. And they can't speak for themselves! Why would anyone think it was a good idea in the first place to lop the top of a tree off? It's crazy to me. When you do this, you cause permanent damage and scaring which produce large knots with tiny weak branches of new growth above the knots. The tree won't die if you lop them, it will just look really silly in the winter, and not perform well afterwards. It causes unnecessary stress as well.

It is acceptable to cut only the old blooms off while keeping intact as much of the natural structure/shape of the branches. This will allow the tree to bloom again and gets rid of the ugly dead blooms.

Greg Grant, Research Associate, Piney Woods Native Plant Center, Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas writes that... topping Crape Myrtles does create larger blooms, though fewer of them. Unfortunately these larger blooms on new shoots have a tendency to flop over and droop after summer rains (remember when it used to rain in the summer?).

"Hideous crimes are being committed all ever Texas, some in our own front yards and many right in front of our local businesses. Unfortunately, many have turned a blind eye to the ongoing massacre. Not me! I can take it no more. I am officially forming an advocacy group for plant’s rights. They can’t speak, so I’m going to speak for them. My first mission…to stop Crape Murder!" [SOURCE: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/stopthecrape.html]

PART I: About Crepe Myrtles a.k.a. Crape Myrtles

PART II: Crepe Murder

PART III: Aphids

PART IV: Release of the Ladybugs!