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Please, for the sake of your neighbors and decent trees, don’t top your Crape Myrtle

Posted on 1/14/21 at 4:36 pm
Posted by dhuck20
SCLSU Fan
Member since Oct 2012
20300 posts
Posted on 1/14/21 at 4:36 pm
Or you’ll end up with these horrible looking, ugly knuckle things.







Already see it popping up in my neighborhood.

It doesn’t make sense.
Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5310 posts
Posted on 1/14/21 at 4:41 pm to
Posted by LaLadyinTx
Cypress, TX
Member since Nov 2018
5990 posts
Posted on 1/14/21 at 5:22 pm to
Correct! Don't committ Crape Murder! They are trees, not shrubs.
Posted by Janky
Team Primo
Member since Jun 2011
35957 posts
Posted on 1/14/21 at 5:31 pm to
I am about to rip out two crape myrtles.
Posted by lazy
Member since Jun 2020
1594 posts
Posted on 1/14/21 at 6:38 pm to
Posted by PillageUrVillage
Mordor
Member since Mar 2011
14731 posts
Posted on 1/14/21 at 7:04 pm to
Posted by tigahbruh
Louisiana
Member since Jun 2014
2857 posts
Posted on 1/14/21 at 7:41 pm to
I dont commit crepe murder but I also mind my own business regarding the crepe myrtles of others.
Posted by Napoleon
Kenna
Member since Dec 2007
69048 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 7:57 am to
I've never done this. It makes it flower more though right?
Posted by hungryone
river parishes
Member since Sep 2010
11987 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:02 am to
No, it doesn't make it flower more. It leads to a tree with poor structure, bad shape, etc.

If you want a shrub, plant a shrub. Or cut down the crape myrtle and plant something that will mature into the size you want.

I've got fairly young natchez white CMs, and I am looking forward to the day when they reach a mature 25'.
Posted by Sidicous
Middle of Nowhere
Member since Aug 2015
17127 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:04 am to
I laugh at the wasted effort and money of AT&T every few years when they top the crepe myrtles my Grandmother planted by hand and watered by hand before the phone and power lines were in place (in the 1940's, Mom may have barely been double digit age but more like 8-9 and she's now 82).

Those trees are over 70 years old and never quite reach the lowest point of the sag in the line over them. Kinda think that they've reached maturity by now. Maybe? Possibly?

BTW: they are absolutely beautiful trees and bloom almost year round not following normal seasonality.
Posted by nerd guy
Grapevine
Member since Dec 2008
12701 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 9:18 am to
Truth. Cut them down to the base and then grind their stumps out. Best possible option.
Posted by fwtex
Member since Nov 2019
1925 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 9:31 am to
quote:

Truth. Cut them down to the base and then grind their stumps out. Best possible option.


We pulled out five CM over the years and the truth is that if your do not get all those roots out they will grow new trees. We dug and cut the base out and all those running roots kept producing sprouts. I finally had to trace all the roots and pull those out. One of those roots ran over 10'.
Posted by idlewatcher
County Jail
Member since Jan 2012
78908 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 9:49 am to
Oooops then apparently I've been doing it all wrong then for 10 years

They don't miss a beat though. Every Valentine's Day weekend I cut them to the fence line b/c I have an overhead electrical line. So what should I be doing different in this case?
Posted by Athis
Member since Aug 2016
11512 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 9:49 am to
quote:

Truth. Cut them down to the base and then grind their stumps out. Best possible option.




I can't stand "Crap" Myrtle.. The flowers stain and are a PITA to clean up. The previous owners of my house planted two on the front lawn right before I purchased. They were not established yet so they were pulled up with the root ball intact. A friend took them and planted them on his property.
Posted by CAD703X
Liberty Island
Member since Jul 2008
77945 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 9:54 am to


damn crape myrtles & bamboo were the 2 main staples at my grandmother's house.

i think she just liked to torture the neighbors.
Posted by tilco
Spanish Fort, AL
Member since Nov 2013
13470 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 10:01 am to
I would never plant one by a driveway but they are beautiful in landscapes beds.
Posted by CAD703X
Liberty Island
Member since Jul 2008
77945 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 10:05 am to
quote:

I would never plant one by a driveway but they are beautiful in landscapes beds.


my grandmother had one DEAD CENTER of her backyard. the trunk was massive. we could actually climb it when we were kids.
Posted by TimeOutdoors
AK
Member since Sep 2014
12120 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 10:24 am to
Saw where some of you are looking to remove yours. I have not done it but I have seen several people make bows out of crepe myrtles. Just passing it on in case this is something any of you are interested in.
Posted by tilco
Spanish Fort, AL
Member since Nov 2013
13470 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 12:01 pm to
Yeah a friend of mine has one that’s massive..........in between his driveway and house
Posted by michael corleone
baton rouge
Member since Jun 2005
5805 posts
Posted on 1/15/21 at 12:45 pm to
Trim interior branches and cut back the drop of the canopy in late August after all of the blooms have fallen off. Fertilize. In Jan/Feb, clean up any “shoots” that develop from nubs. Shape the tree however you want it to grow. Never chop the entire top off of it.
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