Quote:
Originally Posted by Jima64
If you want shade please do not cut the tree back each year like some people do. Our tree is at least 25 feet tall and 35 feet across with great shade. We bought this tree 12 years ago when it was mayne 10 feet tall. It is a multi trunk tree. Best thing we did was to not prune it back. Water it several times a week for the first season.
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I believe you are talking about what is commonly referred to as "crepe murder" where the branches are cut back to the main trunk. Makes me sick to see people do this to these trees. There are a couple of neighbors in my street who are trying to bring back two myrtles from that form of pruning, but it seems that you can never quite get the shape back again. When I talk about pruning mine, we take off maybe a foot or so, when needed, and thin out the fine branches on the canopy. Ours has become so big that it was overhanging our roof line and the squirrels were running up the tree and onto the roof which made my husband very concerned about squirrels getting into the attic.
The finest examples of Natchez Crepe Myrtles I have ever seen are planted at the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, in a courtyard. They must be 50ft tall and fill the courtyard with natural shade. They are beautiful trees when grown correctly.
I should add that any suckers that appear at the base of the tree need to come off, they are just taking energy from the tree ............. mine tries to grow a sucker or two early in the year and I just rub them off with my thumb.