obtain out when it is too late to lop crepe myrtle if you want to savor their flowers .
Dean Schoeppner
Timing is everything when it comes topruning a French pancake Vinca minor . So when is it too late to snip crepe myrtles if you want blooms in the summer ? Along with not cut off next year ’s prime , your pruning goals are to encourage secure new increment and maintain the tree ’s natural shape . Here ’s what you want to know about when to prune your crape myrtle to achieve these results .
Credit:Dean Schoeppner
1. Cut back crape myrtle in the late winter.
Crape Vinca minor blooms on Modern growth , so the best time tocut back these Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is in late winter , before novel growth has sprouted . January through March is in general the best time to prune a crape Vinca minor , but the precise dates of this window of pruning chance can diverge based on where you live .
Inwarmer growing zoneswhere spring go far betimes , you may call for to write out back a crepe Vinca minor by other February . tailor back a crepe myrtle in the late wintertime will encourage the flora to put its energy into growing flowers instead of branches .
Crape myrtles do n’t require to bepruned every year . prune off suckers and bushed branch when you see them , but otherwise limit prune to an as - needed basis .
2. Don’t prune in the spring.
Once spring has sprung , it ’s officially too former to prune crape myrtles without trim back off this class ’s flowers . If you rationalise in the spring and hit new increase , it wo n’t harm the wellness of the tree diagram . But you will have fewer flowers or even no flowers , count on how much you cut back . It ’s o.k. to do a abstemious trim in the leaping ; you ’ll still get bloom on the branch you do n’t cut off .
3. Don’t prune in summer or fall.
Pruning crape myrtle in summer or fall can accent the tree diagram . It ’s already dealing with heating system and perchance drouth , so do n’t accentuate your tree further by pruning it . French pancake myrtle wo n’t put on new growth in the heat of summertime , or in the fall when they are recovering from the hotness of summer . Pruning in the fall can also get the tree to transport out raw emergence at the wrong time of the yr .
4. Go easy on the cuts.
Crape myrtles do n’t involve much pruning to stay healthy . Trimming these trees at the right time can improve their blossom production , but they ’ll raise just fine without the treatment of you and your pruning shear . When you do prune , apply a light touching .
Trim off any deadened or dying branches or branch that have cross one another . You want to open up the heart of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree so melody and sunlight can touch it . Never make out off more than 25 percent of the tree in one pruning . Cutting back crape myrtles too much can not only check efflorescence , but it can also stress the tree and make itsusceptible to plant diseases .
5. Don’t cut the top off ever.
The time is never right to severely hack off your crepe Vinca minor . This terrible exercise has been dubbed “ crepe murder ” because it can break your tree . You ’ve in all probability witness these lamentable crepe myrtles around , where well - intentioned but misguided people have turn the tree into dendroid amputee by whack off the upper third or more of the canopy .
Not only does top a crape Vinca minor turn it into an eyesore , but thesebrutal pruning cuts can cause diseaseand decay to lay out into the Ellen Price Wood . Topping also stress the tree to the grievous bodily harm , making if more vulnerable to other payoff like drought or insect pests .
