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| Photo Credit: Gerald Klingaman |
| This ‘Miami’ crape myrtle shows the natural growth form of the cultivar and still has a dense display of flowers. |
Crape myrtle cultivars are available in a plentitude of colors, with sizes ranging from a few feet tall to 25 feet. They’re beautiful plants that unfortunately tend to suffer from the sharp end of a pair of loppers. But with proper pruning technique, gardeners can put an end to this “crapemurder” crime and enjoy their beautiful plants the way they’re meant to be enjoyed.
Most pruning problems arise when an oversized plant is placed where there just isn’t enough room. If a tree form is planted but there’s only room in the garden for a bush, moving it makes more sense than annual, ritualistic pruning mutilation. So before getting out those loppers, study the branching habit of your crape myrtle to learn its natural growth form. Pruning that preserves the natural form of any plant – while still controlling size and shape – is always the best practice. But with crape myrtles, there persists the misguided notion that chopping the top out of the tree each spring before new growth begins is the way to produce the most attractive plant. Not so. This crapemurder only results in oddly shaped specimens with oversized, mop-like blooms that weigh the slender new shoots down, producing an umbrella-shaped plant. The natural look is preferable for crape myrtles because it allows the plant’s sleek, beautiful bark to become a prominent feature of older, more established specimens. The bloom trusses on crape myrtles that are allowed to grow naturally are smaller than the super-sized feather dusters of their stubbed-back brethren, but they fit more comfortably in the contemporary landscape.
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