Pruning (Not Murdering) Crape Myrtle
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- čas přidán 5. 08. 2024
- Certified arborist Wes Hopper prunes a Crape Myrtle that has previously been “murdered,” or the top has been chopped off. He starts by removing the low hanging branches and twigs that will poke him as he prunes. He throws the debris away from the tree so he will not trip on it as he is moving around while looking up. This Crape Myrtle tree has multiple stems. Some of those stems are crowded so Wes cuts off several of the stems. This opens up the middle of the tree. Wes likes to use hand pruners whenever possible to avoid damaging the thin bark. Wes removes the epicormic growth, or growth that grows secondary like water sprouts. Epicormic growth is weak and loosely attached to the tree. Wes tries to cut the branches he does not want to grow beyond the branch collar. This will keep them from growing. Wes then prunes the upper canopy of the tree with a pole pruner. He removes the old seed pods. He cuts just above a node to allow for future growth. Finally, he cuts back the suckers around the base of the tree.
0:00 - Introduction
0:36 - First Cuts to Get to the Tree
1:44 - Cutting Main Stems
3:06 - Removing Small Growth
6:07 - Pruning Branch Tips and Seed Pods
7:39 - Cutting Main Stems Carefully
8:23 - Cutting Off Ground-Level Suckers
Here are links to get the tools to prune crape myrtles (Amazon Affiliate links)
FELCO F-2 Hand Pruner (High Quality, Name Brand): amzn.to/3UBCwV2
Hand Pruners (Non-Name Brand): amzn.to/49qYDl9
Non-Folding Pruning Saw: amzn.to/48ceiDG
Folding Pruning Saw: amzn.to/489X1eu
Pole Saw/Pruner: amzn.to/3ujWyIX
Click below for more videos on crape myrtles and other garden topics:
Which Crape Myrtle is Right for Your Yard?: • Crape Myrtles - Family...
Why prune crape myrtles?: • Q&A -- Do I have to pr...
Stopping crape myrtle suckers: • Q&A - I cut down my cr...
Is it necessary to prune crape myrtles?: • Q&A - Is It Necessary ...
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As a master gardener and landscaper, I have to do this every late winter/early spring. I can tell you that this guy did everything exactly right and by the book. Every tip and guideline he mentioned is ON POINT!!! Great Job and video. Thanks
Thanks!
Agree.
I looked for a long-handled pruner on Amazon, but there was none.
@@frankrizo5387 look up big Felco pruner or Felco F-13 pruner
well done, the interview style during a demonstration is particularly helpful to us amateurs.
Glad we could help out!
Agreed, just enough questions and good host presence.
After a year of no exercise while watching CZcams videos, I'm nearly out of breath just watching him work. My Crape Myrtle is a dwarf, so I'll be able to sit during much of the pruning. Good video!
Finally I finally learn something about pruning my CM that will help me. without the extra talk. (No offense ) Thank you. It would be great though if we could see the results of some trees a couple years later after pruning.
Was so happy when i first saw this on TV. People thought and still think i am crazy when i show up with three different size pruners to trim their bushes. Now i try and send this to people I work with! Thank you Roger! And This Old House!
I have used this video over and over again as a guide, and sent the link to others! My crepe myrtle looks so beautiful each year in part due to this cutting guidelines. My tree has grown enough that I have to get a pole pruner now : )
Glad to hear! Keep up the good work.
I’ve been shocked at the crape murders I have seen. This seems to me to be a fairly recent problem. I don’t remember that happening as a child. When I moved from Louisiana to Northwest Florida I noticed almost everyone there crape murders.
When I’m pruning I think of it as a large scale bonsai!
They are such beautiful trees when properly cared for. Add such interest to landscaping.
Spread the word! Stop the crap murder!!!!
Amazing! Super helpful to have both of these guys in the video. Is there a link you can provide with what the tree looked like in full bloom next season?
Great pruning video I am a professional lawn maintenance man and do a lot of pruning on crape myrtles all very good points he makes as for the roundup thing it want hurt the tree to use it to kill the grass it cant be absorbed through the roots it can only be absorbed through foliage
This is great. I have two crepe myrtles in my front yard....one that 100% is gone, but the other I'm going to try and trim back, via this video. Thanks for this!!
This is the VIDEO and Technique to watch and use to prune your entire Crape Myrtle!!! Perfect! Thank you!
Wow! I like this video his working while talking. Not wasting time of viewer😉 informative video.
Thank you for this excellent video. We just moved here and have 5 poorly maintained CMs. I have watched 11 videos regarding how to trim these trees. This is the most complete and easy to understand.
Thanks for watching! Glad we could give you the information you needed. Good luck with trees!
Thank you so much. I have a couple of crepe myrtles that had been chopped ( Crepe Murder ). This is the second yr I have just let it grow to give a chance to rebound. I have plans to prune this year. Had no idea how to fix the damage. Now I do. Thank you.
Glad we could help! Good luck on the crape myrtles. It will take a few years but they are very resilient plants.
3 x 3 x 3 ... 3 feet around the base, 3 inches deep, 3 inches away from the root crown. Mulch rules.
Thank You for this video! I would love to see how this crape myrtle looks when completely filled out with blooms.
This was a marvelous video!
Great video! Very informative. Thanks for posting!
Glad we could help!
Beautiful job on that tree, perfectly done
Thanks! Also thanks for watching.
Fantastic video. Thank you.
Awesome video. This has helped me a lot. Very nice nformative
nicely done. Iv worked with too mamy lawncare companies who use the crape murder cut style and say the weather killed them when customers complain. now that Im running my own (knowing they were murdering them) I wanted to double check and make sure I was right thinking they were doing it wrong. nicely done and great video! thanks
Thanks! Glad we could confirm the truth.
Thanks for the video. Super helpful
just make a tree well with edging and mulch around the tree, no need for Roundup spray repetition Cowboy 🤠
I just moved to the south and I see a lot of people chopping off the tops. Since many of there properties look nice I assumed that may be how it is done. I am glad I looked it up before chopping off my Crape Myrtles.
When I lived in North Eastern NC, they called the topping off type pruning Hat Racking! I feel that was a pretty good description of it!
Had a crape myrtle at my parents old house. Used to accidentally mow over it with a lawnmower. Then one day, that tree out of nowhere, shot up 2 feet in a few months. Couldn't run over it anymore.
great show.nice to get to learn more about this subject.mine are not tall enough yet but nice to know when they are what to do.
Awesome job! I work at a property that has several Crape Myrtles, this will help me .
Very helpful, great video - thank you
Wow, this guy's a pro. Great tutorial. Needed to see this
Tell me what you learned from this video...
Thank you! This was very helpful!
Awesome job!
Awesome video!
Very helpful. Thanks.
Yes great job. Just trimmed 13 Crepe Myrtle's today. The lady said I want it cut all the way down to the knuckle. I said then you will have to get someone else because I want to do it right. She said that is the right way and I told her to look up Crepe murder. She said oh my you are right. So I prunned it right and told her wait to see the bloom in Aug it's gonna look the best it has ever been. Crepe Murder happens by people seeing it everywhere and thinks that is how it's done and it is incorrect. This guy did a great job. I did it the same way and have for 20 plus years. Prune Feb or mid Feb and watch a beautiful bloom in Aug. Great job bud
This tutorial was a privilege to watch, from the teacher to the questions asked. You two really have something here.
The only thing that I need answered now is how to determine it’s end size by means other than known origins or a name on a bucket
You will have to find out what cultivar the plant is and do some research. Often trees grow much larger than the nursery tag says. If you can find the group that did the original breeding they might have quite a bit of information available. But, It will take some digging.
id agree
I like my crepe myrtles growing as bushes they make a beautiful barrier to my neighbor's yard
You like crape myrtle bushes then, not crape myrtle trees. The two are different.
We had two gigantic crape myrtle trees in our backyard in our previous home. However, they grew so big that they looked like two big pink bushes next to our fence, between us and our neighbor. So, I understand why people want these trees to grow big and bushy for privacy from their neighbors. Then, these trees become gigantic bushes, instead of trees. I guess it depends on how you want them trimmed. That's what our tree surgeon told us. 😊
Great lesson
Great job
I have a 4 year crepe myrtle tree. Well we have a lot of snow one time and all the branches broke so now I only have a long cane. So I'm hoping this year my tree revive again and give me lots of beautiful flowers. 😘😘
Good job!
Respect ✊ to him for saying that LET THE WILD LIFE LIVE i AGREE ☝️
Yet he uses Roundup to kill everything....birds, bees, butterflies and causes cancer!
Best video on Myrtles
Just found your video and subscribed!!! Great video!!!
Thanks for picking a maintenance nightmare to fix. I live somewhere with 3 of them that are...ugly.
Excellent Thank you
Family Plot Wes, can you pass along the make and model of the hand pruners you are using in this video? With the longer handles they look much more efficient than the standard variety that are usually sold. Perhaps Felco brand? Thanks!
A battery operated sawzall with pruning blades are wonderful for removing big branches when necessary. I even used it to cut the knots off the stumps where the water shoots keep springing out. Hopefully that's going to greatly reduce if not eliminate sucker formation. I always cut the new growth back to about a foot above the previous years pruning cut. Unfortunately, due to a bad shoulder, I had to cut my mains back to a height I can safely reach. I never cut in the same place and let those nasty "crowns" form.
You know what you are doing. But so many people butcher crape myrtles and really any specie of tree. And professional tree companies often just do the quickest form of cutting a tree back, ignoring the aesthetics and health of the tree. If people would just read a book or two on pruning techniques before picking up a saw, the world would be a prettier place.
Ya agreed. Let a tree be a tree. If you want a bush then plant a bush. When selecting plants... select for what it will be when mature.
@@johnvinga5446 it's not professionals, it's tye customer. They have them planted in the wrong place, sometimes don't care if it's crepe murdered. I spoke to one home owner about people crepe murder their trees bc I see them everywhere and planted in the Ron places. Whenever I talk to a a homeowner who has a crepe myrtle, I try to inform them and about crepe murder and how they're suppose to be trimmed
Thank you for a well done, informative clip. Round up?
I've seen some videos where they say to cut at an angle. Maybe it produces fewer knolls when you do this. There are dwarf crape myrtles you can trim like a hedge. Go a foot past where you need to go, so when it blooms it blooms full. Otherwise it's mostly leaves like a bush.
Very helpful!
❤️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸❤️
Did you ever take a picture of it in bloom that summer? Or maybe the next year? Would be nice to see the difference.
Thank you awesome!!!!
Only tip I don’t agree with was spraying round up around the base of the tree. Never do that next to the tree.
good video, unlike the one I watched before which was two dudes talking and pointing about what to prune without actually doing any thing...lol
Learned a lot
Multi-trunk trees look good with odd number trunks. These look great with the three trunks that he left. I have some with five and seven. But they’re really large specimens
Great video! Thank you!
Good video. I've got one about six feet tall that I'm going to try to save.
Wow he did awesome
Nice 👍
Did I understand correctly that the Crape Mertyle should be pruned in the late fall after the flowering is done but only the small shoots at the bottom should come off in the summer?
Thanks
I see it like making more mulch or compost depending on what you use it as .
5:50
Nah just depends on the hight the customer wants it. Thats what makes us get more trash and, the lack of maintenance done to the tree and, if its blooming
At approx the 8 min mark how did he get his blade between the last stub he cut and the other stem? (it wasn't shown in the video) Didn't look like much room, how'd he avoid scuffing the bark?
He came in from the other side and as he was finishing the cut he slowed way down and held the stub so the saw would not scuff the other branch and the stub would not fall and tear the bark.
won't those 'water sprouts' reappear at those nodes? I keep cutting my bottom 'sprouts', but more keep coming back.
No, they dont usually come back..
Chris, I wish he would have said something about that ugly crooked branch on the left. If I had it on my tree it might be gone. What would you do about that?
Can you share what trademark tools are the best for the job?
Ok so it is spring and of course no new leaves coming out, but when I went to start pruning and shaping there is no green in any of the branches I cut off. I know they don't start until May. Does that mean my crepe myrtle is dead? My tree is a young one. The Tree is maybe 1-3 years old? I have no idea. A one stem Tonto Crepe Myrtle which is supposed to be hardy in winter. So how do I know if it is still alive? We had a very cold winter/frost? I did mulch around the roots but I did not protect the umbrella of the tree. I planted 22 of them down my long driveway in Zone 7 - Tennessee. I pray they are still alive!!!
Yesterday I was clearing some property of mine a discovered a creap myrtle, very much over grown and don't know what I should do
Overgrown is relative. Crape myrtles generally need very little pruning. This was an extreme case because the tree had been murdered before. Just remove dead and rubbing/crossing branches and it will be fine. If you would like to gently shape the tree prune it like you would any other tree.
Great Video! Too bad people who can afford a truck, trailer, and mower will never take the time learn. Much less take the time to prune properly.
Hey great show have a cherry tomatoes plant and have a question wt is the best natural solution for bug spay ty
Neem oil works great also pure ivory soap shavings and water. Light solution.
Now are you suppose to always prune like that every year? Or can you let it be if you think it doesn’t need it.
Most of the time you won't have to prune it nearly that hard. Just remove any branches that grow back toward the middle and will cause future problems. Also take out one of each pair of branches that are touching or rubbing. Then remove the dead wood and cut back any suckers from the base. Overall they need very little pruning.
Is there an “after” video? I’d like to see how it looks after blooming.
@gsweater :D
gsweater lmao niñito did not 😂😂😂
gsweater hahaha
Maybe it died 😆🤷🏻♂️
Do you need to put some kind of bug guard or wound stuff on the big cuts?
No, trees are very good at making a callous over the damaged tissue (cut). Wound cover has not been shows to do anything, and it may even increase the probability of rot by trapping moisture in the dead wood.
This video was very helpful.
Some other videos show cutting the long branches down to about a foot... leaving two to three out of the trunk. But only about a foot. You leave them very long. Any thoughts? Advice?
The thing to remember is crape myrtles are trees, not shrubs. As such you need to prune them like a tree. The "murdering" that Wes is talking about is when people just wack them off straight across with no thought for the structure of the plant. Doing this year after year creates an ugly knot where they are repeatedly cut. Also, the branches that grow from a murdered crape myrtle are not as strong as a natural branch. I would try to prune it like a tree. A mature crape myrtle that has not been murdered in its life is a very beautiful plant. If murdering is necessary, the tree is probably not planted in the right spot and should be replaced with another plant.
Thank you!
Wow!
How tall should these be allowed to grow? I ask because we just bought a house with several withinabout 4-5 feet of the house. Some are at the second story windows. I am thinking they could be shortened some since the are right in front of the windows.
If you let them go they can get up to about 20 feet depending the cultivar. Unfortunately many crape myrtles are planted right up against houses, which is really the wrong place for them. You can reduce the size of the trees by correctly pruning them back. Remember not to just whack them off.
If you can, find out what variety you have and the mature size of that variety. If these plants are a miniature variety you will just need to maintain them. I had to move four crapes that were planted too close to the house I bought. They made a wonderful island bed in the middle if a bland piece of turf and a nice accent planting at the mailbox. They have now recovered from the transplant shock and will be tree formed this spring and landscape up lighting added to accent them. Fortunately they were still fairly small when I moved them.
When should you prune the Crape Myrtle? I've heard late February. Its April now is it too late?
You can prune them now if you would like. You may be cutting off some of the flowers, but your won't hurt the tree.
I learnt a long time ago that wildlife is also affected by people spraying roundup around tress because they cant be bithered to mow round trees.
i just prune my cm last of april. why were the buds on there? did i hurt the growth for the summer?
You should be fine.
Why were buds on it in April? I'd be worried if they weren't there.
Jeannette Hines, Yes, you did cut off the future growth on those parts of limbs you removed, but since you were removing them anyway, it is ok..
Crepe myrtles of course will sent new growth out on those buds you see on yours..
Just keep the structure of the plant you want, and you will be fine..
Although I never murdered a crape myrtle, I did some serious damage once to a crepe suzette.
What kind of hand pruner is he using (Brand)?
Felco pruners...not sure what model.
How is the tree looking in spring ?
What if you just left the top canopy untrimmed? Some crapes are so tall that it would be a lot of work to trim the canopy.
I would like to know too! Mine are too tall
@ steve mirabile and @ Cosmo The Teddy Bear: You can leave the tops pruned if you like.
You describe pieces you're cutting as "epicormic growth", and strongly imply that, of all the "new" limbs/branches sprouted after that CM had been 'murdered', only "some" are epicormic growth (you're clipping pieces and describing them as epicormic, as-if the remainder of the post-murder shoots are of any different structure) Would be very curious to hear your elaborations on this, I'm very much into this part of tree-bio (am a climber/sawyer & a bonsai artist), so far as I ever knew: IF you cut a branch/trunk, "trunk chopping" as we say in bonsai, many species (many broadleaf evergreens, at least) will sprout tons of new shoots - these are *all* epicormic growth so far as I knew. You seem to be saying there's some biological difference between the "epicormic ones you're removing" and the ones you're keeping/not cutting (whereas I see what you're doing as simply "selective pruning" IE you're looking at each sub-trunk's epicormic shoots, and getting-rid-of the smallest/weakest of them...but what's kept are still epicormic shoots that sprouted same way as the ones you're cutting off, they're simply more vigorous. ALL of these will have weaker trunk-attachment points, this is something we must deal with in bonsai because it's often how we create our material (find a CM with a 6" wide trunk, collect it & chop it to a 1' tall stump, then let it backbud/shoot epicormic branches, select the ones we want & build our canopy from there, atop the 1' stump we'd kept), but for in-grounds like CM.......Why not simply do real/regular pruning? IE no deadheading anything, ever....only removal cuts & reduction cuts, Ed Gilmore has an outstanding youtube on the subject if you can spare an hour, you'll never look at pruning the same again!)
Help! I have a miniature smoke tree that has gotten much taller than I prefer. Can I cut all its branches down without killing it, and how long will it take to recover?
I am not an expert on smoke trees. Here are some instructions from Master Gardeners in California: sonomamg.ucanr.edu/Plant_of_the_Month/Cotinus/. Smoke trees bloom on old wood so if you want blooms you need to leave some of last year's growth.
@Family Plot. Thank you for sending the link. It helped me find the exact answer I was looking for. I can live without them blooming for a year to achieve my desired look. Thanks again.
Hey can you guys share the studies you've read about glyphosate. I've read quite a few studies and they're hit and miss.
We are working on something like that. There are a lot of people that champion one side or the other.
@@FamilyPlotGarden Yeah, the chemical cirporations on one side, everybidy else on the other.
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO PRUNE THE CRATE MYRTLE,S
What saw and clippers do you use?
You are not the first to ask. I asked Wes and he said he bought the clipper at Costco (of all places) many years ago. The saw is a folding tree saw. They are available at local stores and online.
Okay, so this is a good video of you DOING the work. But I am not sure what you are doing and why.
Joey Ingles ...there is nothing left😱
Pruning a crepe myrtle into the ideal shape.
@@lanarober8952 but with no explanation ... Just watching him work.
@@lanarober8952 Looks better, but who/whom ever chopped on the tree (the same way I just did with the King's English) before shouldn't be allowed any saws, pruners or anything that's related in their hands any longer for all eternity. They can pick the fruit off the Tree Of Life, but don't touch the wood! You'll ruin it for the rest of us.
@@CapedCrusader77 He was explaining the entire time- watch again.
When is the best time to prune a crape myrtle? I have one and I have been pruning it in the early spring. It normally has lots of flowers on it, but this year it hasn’t bloomed at all. I live in Arkansas and the summers are very hot so I’m thinking the heat may be getting to it. I love my crape Myrtle though and want it to be pretty again. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
You are pruning it at the correct time. Some years they bloom more than others.
Thank you for your reply. I planted it two years ago, and it has really gotten big. I just worry that it won’t be as pretty as was the first year it was planted. It hasn’t done anything this summer so far. It does have a lot of blooms on though so I haven’t given up on it yet. It has lots of leaves down at the bottom of it though where I pruned it but I’m afraid If I cut them it will die. This is my first thing to ever plant and I love it so I don’t want to risk it dying.
I would keep the twigs that are coming from the ground (suckers) cut off.
@@FamilyPlotGarden ok thank you
I pruned some trees for a customer recently 2 being crepe myrtle about 15 feet high maybe pruned once there entire lives. Customer wanted them cut way back basically wanted new trees so I reluctantly did it knowing it was wrong and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I go to bed thinking about and wake up thinking about it. It’s eating me up bad knowing how shitty they are going to look the rest of there lives. Customer paid me so I did it. I just need something to put my mind at ease and maybe sleep a little at night lol
Ugly arse trees in the winter good video
I have 3 that I’ve never “murdered” and they need a drastic pruning now - they are so thick that the last 2 years they’ve hardly bloomed.
Just remember to prune them like a tree, remove select branches where they grow out of a larger branch. Don't just chop them off.
Am I able to trim mine now that it is in bloom?
If it is blooming I would wait till next year. If it just leafing out you can still trim it.
What does the tree look like now, a few years later? I keep trying to see what the outcome is of doing significant pruning like this.
Wes did a realy nice job pruning this crape myrtle, but since then the normal landscapers got a hold of it and murdered it again. The cuts from murdering will slowly become less and less apparent as the tree grows, but it will probably always be visible if you look.
@@FamilyPlotGarden Those "normal landscapers" need to be fired!
@@FamilyPlotGarden Too bad the normal landscapers can't be told to leave the tree alone. :(. Crepe myrtles are one on the most beautiful trees when they are allowed to grow open with a few stems. I love them when they have been properly trimmed. Thank you for the video, and thank Wes too.
@@FamilyPlotGarden That's really unfortunate! Thank you for the reply though
same nonsense happened to me; my careful work undone by someone all “IM hELpiNG”!
I like your pruners, what make and model are they?