Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Crape Myrtle
Thread: Crape Myrtle
View Single Post
 
Old 05-30-2011, 07:11 AM
Mikeod's Avatar
Mikeod Mikeod is offline
Sage
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Caroline
Posts: 5,021
Thanks: 0
Thanked 50 Times in 28 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by nanci2539 View Post
To answer DownEaster, yes, it bloomed the first two years it was planted. I noticed the tips of branches have dead buds on them. I love that tree and not one bloom!!!!
That may be the problem. These trees bloom on new wood. The best way to prune/trim them is to cut the branches back by about a third of their length in the winter when the tree is dormant. The branches should not be cut all the way back to a main trunk. This is called crape murder, and produces a tree with weak structure. Cutting the branches by a third will produce a nicely shaped tree that blooms regularly.

Hope this helps.