How to Prune a Crape Myrtle - A Step by Step Guide

Рет қаралды 402,083

Күн бұрын

Crape myrtles must be properly pruned on an annual basis in order to achieve the following benefits:
- Increased health and vitality
- Enhanced beauty
- Controlled growth
- Hazard reduction
How do you properly prune a crape myrtle?
1. Start trimming the crape myrtle at a young age. If you do this, you can direct its growth over time to begin meeting your objectives.
2. As the tree grows, trim it regularly. Make clean cuts at the branch collar with sharp tools.
3. When you prune, remove dead branches, thin out the canopy, and prune crossing, damaged, and conflicting branches. Prune out epicormic growth as well.
With the right pruning performed on a regular basis, your crape myrtle will be healthy and happy.
For more information, please see our article "Crape Myrtles: A Tale of Love, Murder, and Proper Pruning" at www.leaflimb.com/crape-myrtles...
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Пікірлер: 74

@anthonymadejczyk861 4 ай бұрын

Greetings from Durham, NC - thanks for the pruning tips, we'll use 'em!

@Chcksjc 6 ай бұрын

Excellent instruction! Thank you

@VK-zt6sw Жыл бұрын

Awesome video - thank you!

@hotstepper2006 4 жыл бұрын

Great video, thank you for making this!

@CapedCrusader77 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for explaining why you make your cuts!

@allenhenry1113 5 жыл бұрын

I have several crape myrtles. I'm wanting to get trees to have a umbrella look to it. any suggestions will be greatful.

@keithdmaust1854 5 жыл бұрын

Since you offered to help... I was tasked to trim three young trees that my partner Gloria planted. These trees are near and dear to her heart and I don't want to make a mistake that ruins the growth of the trees in the future. This was my KZfaq search: "how to trim a tall spindly crepe myrtle tree" and your video came up at the top of the search rankings. To be fair I re-watched your entire video. Part of my frustration is that you are giving instructions to persons who already have a basic understanding of how to trim a tree which I do not. Several of the terms you used I think the average person would have no idea what you're talking about. Regarding our trees - we have followed the instructions precisely that accompanied the trees, but they look nothing like the tree that you are trimming. They have grown amazingly well and we have attempted to prune them following the instructions but now this spring they are getting way out of hand with a single central trunk and like I said they are getting very tall and spindly. So you can see my frustration with a video that may be helpful to others - but not me.

@Leaflimb 5 жыл бұрын

I totally understand your frustration. Tell you what, why don't you send some photos of the trees to us and we'll have a look to see if we can help. Our email is info@leaflimb.com - ask for Basil in your email and he'll personally review them.

@nicolacaizergues8882 4 жыл бұрын

Hi, we recently bought a new house and we have crape Myrtle in the garden which has grown very tall and leggy, with no foliage on branches. Last year I cut down severely to mid stem about 2 meters off the ground. New shoots came up etc again without much foliage. What should i do this year. I am in south africa so we are mid winter now. Thanks

@profesorbonsai 2 жыл бұрын

Hello brothers 👋🏻. I am from Indonesia,. 😊🙏🏻😊

@noel888 5 жыл бұрын

Hi, thanks for the video. I have a 30 year old C.M. and its about 20 feet tall. I have to prune mine this coming Winter, downward hopefully. It gets pretty expensive in hiring aborist's every few years. I get a lot of suckers and try to remove them, and more show up regardless. I cut them down to soil level. I have no idea on how else i can get them to stop, or even if its possible. BTW, I am in NYC.

@Leaflimb Жыл бұрын

That's pretty much it - you just have to keep cutting them

@aga5132 2 жыл бұрын

I live in Southern Texas, my husband bought me 2 crepe myrtles, bout 3 feet tall, no flowers, just few leaves...we had severe weather so those few leaves dried...a week ago I noticed new leaves sprouting!...but I'm wondering if it's really a crepe myrtle...I'm also wondering why your tree doesn't have just one tree trunk? Why all those branches growing from base?...greetings from Southern Texas!

@raccooneyes2099 6 жыл бұрын

I planted a young crape myrtle last year and we had a very rough winter. Sadly I lost a main trunk. There are so signs of life. I only have one main trunk with growth. It looks kinda silly. The tree in the video shows many trunks making that beautiful "V" shape. Now I don't have that. Is there hope for my CM to come back to a more natural shape??

@Leaflimb 6 жыл бұрын

It is always hard to say for sure, especially without seeing the tree. But generally, crape myrtles are extremely hardy and vigorous. So I think there is hope.

@whoDatBeDare 4 жыл бұрын

Emergency situation. Had to replace 60 year old clay sewage pipe as it had collapsed. Our Crape Myrtle had to be uprooted yesterday October 14th 2019. We've watered the roots and covered with a soaking wet cover overnight. Looking for any advice on saving our beautiful Crape Myrtle.

@Leaflimb 4 жыл бұрын

So sorry for the delayed reply! Somehow we missed your comment. How did this turn out? Please feel free to send us photos of the tree at info@leaflimb.com - if we can help we will!

@michaelgrammas5930 6 жыл бұрын

We just moved to South Carolina from Chicago. We have a couple of crêpe myrtles on our new property. Everyone around here Chops the heck out of their crepe myrtles so that they’re very stubby. I noticed you didn’t do that. What’s the thought behind the over pruning that seems to be going on over here?

@Leaflimb 6 жыл бұрын

Topping the crape myrtle will damage its health. It is also counter productive, because it will shoot up many new sprouts from this cut, which means you will have to keep cutting each year and damaging its health each year. This is a very simplified explanation, but hopefully it helps. You can read more here: www.leaflimb.com/crape-myrtles-a-tale-of-love-murder-and-proper-pruning/

@ashleysmith5618 Жыл бұрын

It’s a good thing you had those hard hats on. It was looking kinda iffy on the danger level.

@Leaflimb Жыл бұрын

LOL yeah, in retrospect that was prob overkill

@Xscarecrowtx 13 күн бұрын

Can I prune when the tree is blooming? Or I need to wait for fall?

@Leaflimb 13 күн бұрын

When the tree is dormant in the winter is the best time to prune.

@cassandracollins6890 2 жыл бұрын

Why make 3 cuts to remove that first branch? Wouldn't the final cut have worked as well? Another question: I have two baby crepe myrtles I got as "sticks" and one that's about 2 1/2 feet tall has a branch that goes opposite and across others. I've been wanting to prune it but I'm not sure if the plant is too young (about 5 months).

@Leaflimb Жыл бұрын

Yeah, you can skip to the final cut if the branch is small. I would wait on pruning those young trees

@gloriacabeen2819 3 жыл бұрын

Great video; wish there was no music, or music that is much softer.

@spideywhiplash 5 жыл бұрын

My mother has been butchering her CM for decades. It is very wild, unruly & bushy with long stems of flowers hanging on the ground. I would like to prune it now. Would that be ok, considering it's July. Thanks

@Leaflimb 5 жыл бұрын

I would probably recommend waiting until the dormant season, which is between leaf drop (fall) and bud break (spring). There are many exceptions to this, but given that it sounds like the tree will need some heavy thinning, it would probably be best to wait until then.

@spideywhiplash 5 жыл бұрын

@@Leaflimb Thank you. I appreciate you getting back to me & I will wait.

@iqbalyozanda1207 6 жыл бұрын

Sir, this tree really focus on apex than branching or trunk thickening. The base trunk just too weak to bear the umbrella. Any tips?

@Leaflimb 6 жыл бұрын

Hey Iqbal, I'm not sure I understand your question. Can you elaborate please?

@iqbalyozanda1207 6 жыл бұрын

Im sorry for my mistake. Based on many literature and my experience, crape myrtle has a tendency to grow taller than build a thicker base or branch. It grows taller with thin base sir, cant bear the top part of the tree. You have any tips to make a proportional shape without slowing its growth?? I live in tropical country Thank you sir

@Leaflimb 6 жыл бұрын

I have not heard of this issue. Perhaps it is a regional problem? But here in NC the trunks are almost always able to support the top part of the tree. So unfortunately I do not have any advice for you. I'm sorry I cannot be of more help.

@northtexasturfpros4083 6 жыл бұрын

FELLAS, SERIOUSLY! I wouldn’t think I would need to explain this to a professional, but you just did the 3 cut method backwards - which really makes me question your expertise. The first cut (on the bottom side of the branch) must be CLOSER to the trunk than your second cut (which is the cut where you cut the limb clean off). Which is where you have it backwards. Your under cut was outside your second cut! The whole purpose of the first cut is to act as a ‘stop gap’ and prevents the bark from being being peeled off of the trunk by the weight of the falling limb. But, if the undercut is on the outside of the second cut you don’t have this protection. You run the risk of the bark being peeled off of the tree, not to mention you wasted your time making a pointless cut in the first place.

@Leaflimb 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback and you are correct. But please see my earlier reply to Spencer Simpson below. If you have ever had to film a movie in the middle of a blistering NC summer, then you know how long, difficult, and nerve-wracking the process can be. This film took a full day of filming the same thing over and over. Mistakes happen. Then the film crew did not catch in during editing because they are film professionals, not arborists. All this being said, it goes without saying that we know how to prune using the 3-cut method. Feel free to dig around online to learn more about our reputation and abilities. But ultimately this does not matter. The point of this film is to teach people a proper way to prune crape myrtles, one that does not involve non-selective heading cuts (also called topping and Crape Murder). To that extent we achieved our goal and have been able to teach the 10s of thousands of people who have viewed this video a better way. Thanks again for your input

@northtexasturfpros4083 6 жыл бұрын

Leaf & Limb I agree. Y’all gave good direction on proper way to prune the crepe myrtles. Forgive me if my tone was harsh. And I should have read the comments more. I didn’t see that you ya already addressed the oversight. I’m Sorry for bringing up something you already addresses.

@Leaflimb 6 жыл бұрын

No worries! Thanks again for the feedback and have a great weekend

@simple-steve 5 жыл бұрын

Lol that should have been a "one" cut any way. 3 cuts for a one inch branch?

@Yru2noz 4 жыл бұрын

@@Leaflimb Late winter, yes?

@bettybho2168 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your informative video, my elderly next door neighbour had a fixation about trees overhanging his garage roof - even if it was only an inch. He would routinely butcher my Crepe Myrtle every year so it ended up looking like a tree with a bad haircut. Luckily he died last year and now I look forward to my Crepe Myrtle growing into the graceful tree it was meant to be. Has anyone seen an 100 year old Crepe Myrtle tree grown into its natural habit? It is a sight to behold.

@dcb805 5 ай бұрын

Should have worn chainsaw chaps and long leather welding gloves and logging boots to go with your hard hats😂

@Leaflimb 5 ай бұрын

LOL yeah, in. retrospect those hard hats were probably unnecessary. We were trying to emphasize the point that safety is important, but perhaps it was a little absurd given the tiny cuts LOL

@Ranger-ib7xw 6 жыл бұрын

Helmets?

@Leaflimb 6 жыл бұрын

We are wearing helmets while doing work. For example, fast forward to 1:36

@famfirst6660 4 жыл бұрын

They look pretty silly with them damn helmets on 😒🤣

@danoc51 4 жыл бұрын

I was in a metal fabrication program in college. At first we balked about having to wear protective gear. Then we were shown various films about victims discussing their industrial accidents. And just about every student got some sort of minor injury thru grinding, welding or whatever. That pretty much changed all of us students and even today I make sure I am wearing protective equipment appropriate for whatever task I'm working on. These two guys wearing protective gear provides a great example for others.

@bhahnable 4 жыл бұрын

@@danoc51 metal vs. small tree...

@theronwinsby 7 жыл бұрын

Looks like the root collar is buried!?

@Leaflimb 7 жыл бұрын

Yeah, unfortunately. The client was not interested in excavating the root collar.

@theronwinsby 5 жыл бұрын

@@Leaflimb ignorant client

@ArbitraryLifestyle 4 жыл бұрын

What part of a plant's shape isn't its "natural shape"??? What you mean is "the shape we want the tree to be". Anything it does is a natural response to what you've done to it.

@Leaflimb 3 жыл бұрын

The natural shape would be what you would find in the wild, when the plant is living in its native environment. But at the same time, if there is a certain shape you are trying to achieve, then you can target that shape as well. You are right that the plant will respond to what you do.

@keithdmaust1854 5 жыл бұрын

Blue helmets. Fancy words. How's come after 4 and 1/2 minutes I still don't know how to trim a crepe myrtle tree?

@Leaflimb 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the compliments! We discussed thinning, removing dead branches, epicormic growth, and more. We covered everything that a crape myrtle needs in terms of pruning. What more would you like to learn? We are happy to help.

@spideywhiplash 5 жыл бұрын

🤣🌳🤣🌱🤣🍃🤣🌿🤣☘🤣

@henrystrauss168 4 жыл бұрын

epicormic you might as well be speaking Greek 🤣🤣🤣

@craftus-flute-guitar-vocal7329 2 жыл бұрын

@@Leaflimb I appreciate the video. I guess what I was wondering is how hard to cut it back. I see people who cut them back to the be really large branches. I usually cut them back and leave the ends of the large branches with the small nubs to start for next year. I see that you did more of an overall shaping of the plant. I'm going to try that.

@lynnhughes6350 4 ай бұрын

We don’t need no fancy words … we need to rehearse !!! …..I tell you what we need !!!! We need so paying gigs , and not this messin around on one patio and then another ,….this is rediculous !!!! Amen Johnson !… --“ WE AINT GOT NO GOD DAMN BAND !!!!! We don’t need to FUCKIN practice Randy …YOU BUNCH OF LOSERS !!! … I’m the only sane son of a bitch around here !!!!! Now get off your asses and get out ..before I get to mad to turn back !!!!!

@bobbytribble9234 4 ай бұрын

Are safety helmets really necessary for trimming a crepe myrtle?! Give me a break.

@Leaflimb 4 ай бұрын

LOL yeah, in retrospect that was probably overkill

@josephineg8932 8 жыл бұрын

@barbparees 4 ай бұрын

sound of dog coughing from heart disease

@CurlyFromTheSwirly 2 жыл бұрын

If it's not the tree's natural shape it's not going to grow. What you are talking about is the expected ascetic shape.

@stevelay2769 2 жыл бұрын

helmets?

@Leaflimb 2 жыл бұрын

Why? There are no risks to their heads while pruning small branches on a small crape myrtle using felcos and loppers

@stevelay2769 2 жыл бұрын

@@Leaflimb I was making fun of the two guys in the video wearing hardhats.

@Leaflimb 2 жыл бұрын

@@stevelay2769 Ah, gotcha LOL

@jenniferhowes7065 Жыл бұрын

We just moved into a house that had over grown trees that we have removed. Low and behold there are two Crepe Myrtles that have been buried. I see you not suppose to trim the top of the tree but so I don’t even have a starting point These two trees a way out of shape. Eek