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Photo by S. Cory Tanner
Six weeks after a proper pruning, this murdered crape myrtle is on its way to recovering.
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Photo by Andrew Haworth
Repeatedly topping a crape myrtle will lead to dense growth that is unhealthy for the tree and ruins its natural umbrella shape. It also encourages sprouting along the trunk and at the base of the tree.
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Photo by Andrew Haworth
Too many sprouts emerging from one poorly pruned branch will compete with each other and interfere with healthy growth.
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Photo by Andrew Haworth
Select a few of the strongest sprouts that are growing in the same direction as the original branch. Remove the rest.
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Photo by Andrew Haworth
Your pruned branches may leave the tree looking sparse for a while, but new growth will start to fill in within a few weeks, and the tree will soon be on its way back to a healthier appearance.
So, you’ve murdered your crape myrtle. Now what?
Severely pruning crape myrtle trees (jokingly referred to as “crape murder”) is common. Horticulturists frown on it, but it’s not as fatal as the label suggests. If crape myrtles died from such extreme topping, we would have few of these flowering trees left.
Fortunately, a little restorative pruning will return topped crape myrtles to their natural shape and beauty.
A typical “murdered” crape has had all its branches cut indiscriminately at about the same height—usually about shoulder high to the person doing the pruning. Called topping, it causes stress, destroys the tree’s natural form and encourages sprouts where you don’t want them.
Crape myrtles topped in winter will send out new shoots in all directions from each pruning cut the next spring. Initially, this may make the plant appear full and lush. But if not corrected, it will grow into a thick mass of interwoven and unhealthy branches. Over time, repeatedly topped trees look ragged and tired, and gnarly knobs of old stubs and wounds will develop.
You can repair the damage by returning the tree to an upright vase or umbrella shape, preferably within a year of the initial topping. Select one to three of the healthiest new shoots emerging from a pruning cut; leave these untouched. Then, remove all the rest. This may mean removing eight or more shoots from each stub.
Keep the strongest shoots that are growing in a similar direction as the original branch. Shoots growing toward the center of the tree, crossing other branches, or growing in undesirable directions should come off. Later, you may need to remove more shoots if they are interfering with one another. But to start, it’s better to remove too few than too many.
Corrected branches may look sparse right after pruning. Over time, these remaining shoots will become dominant and resume normal growth.
Once you’ve thinned the new shoots, look for and correct other problems. Stubs of branches left over from previous cuts, ragged pruning cuts, and suckers sprouting from the base should be removed for a healthier and more attractive tree.
Be sure to make proper pruning cuts when removing limbs. At the base of each branch, where it intersects another stem, is the branch collar, usually a swollen area where one branch transitions to another. Make the pruning cut as close to the collar as possible, without damaging it. Leaving the collar intact results in a wound that seals more quickly and cleanly.
Your restored tree will look thin and a bit straggly at first. But, in a month or two, natural branching will resume and start to fill in its appearance.
Give the tree a checkup in six months to a year to see if follow-up pruning and training are needed. Within two to three years, the original topping cuts will barely be visible, and the tree will regain its natural form, as long as no new crape murder is committed!
S. Cory Tanner is an area horticulture agent for Clemson Extension based in Greenville County. Email him here.