Crepe Myrtles Crepe Myrtles - Talk of The Villages Florida

Crepe Myrtles

Closed Thread
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 05-02-2012, 05:39 AM
PaPaLarry PaPaLarry is offline
Gold member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: From New Hampshire Live in Caroline
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 42
Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts
Talking Crepe Myrtles

I purchased two nice Crepe Myrtle Trees from Fairfield Farms Nursery. (Watermelon Red, 5-6 inch trunk) While golfing yesterday, I was told you should trim back tree each year to get more flowering!! Does anyone know about this? I love the look of these trees, and how long the flowers last for the whole summer. Thanks

Last edited by PaPaLarry; 05-21-2012 at 06:06 AM.
  #2  
Old 05-02-2012, 05:44 AM
graciegirl's Avatar
graciegirl graciegirl is offline
Sage
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 40,170
Thanks: 5,009
Thanked 5,783 Times in 2,004 Posts
Send a message via AIM to graciegirl
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by PaPaLarry View Post
I purchased two nice Crepe Myrtle Trees from Fairfield Farms Nursery. (Watermelon Red, 5-6 inch trunk) While golfing yesterday, I was told you should trim back tree each year to get more flowering!! Does anyone know about this? I love the look of these trees, and how long the flowers last. Thanks
PapaLarry...There was a thread on this and I think it was called Crepe Murder...about trimming them back. Half did, half did not think it was the thing to do. We did, the guy next door did not. We are waiting to see when they bloom who wins. I think it may be too late now to trim them and you could cut off where they will blossom.

When it's bloomin' time I will report on ours.
__________________
It is better to laugh than to cry.
  #3  
Old 05-02-2012, 05:49 AM
PaPaLarry PaPaLarry is offline
Gold member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: From New Hampshire Live in Caroline
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 42
Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts
Talking

Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl View Post
PapaLarry...There was a thread on this and I think it was called Crepe Murder...about trimming them back. Half did, half did not think it was the thing to do. We did, the guy next door did not. We are waiting to see when they bloom who wins. I think it may be too late now to trim them and you could cut off where they will blossom.

When it's bloomin' time I will report on ours.
Thanks Gracie!!! Just heard this yesterday, and thought I would ask.
  #4  
Old 05-02-2012, 06:06 AM
jblum315's Avatar
jblum315 jblum315 is offline
Sage
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,879
Thanks: 1
Thanked 40 Times in 23 Posts
Default

There is a right way and a wrong way to trim them back, and I don' know how
  #5  
Old 05-02-2012, 06:15 AM
graciegirl's Avatar
graciegirl graciegirl is offline
Sage
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 40,170
Thanks: 5,009
Thanked 5,783 Times in 2,004 Posts
Send a message via AIM to graciegirl
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jblum315 View Post
There is a right way and a wrong way to trim them back, and I don' know how
We cut off their little berries/little round things at the top.
__________________
It is better to laugh than to cry.
  #6  
Old 05-02-2012, 06:20 AM
MLBellis MLBellis is offline
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 201
Thanks: 0
Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Default

They are very hard to kill...no matter what you do they will grow...I dug up mine & replanted it & chopped it down to nothing, it grew bigger than before!!
  #7  
Old 05-02-2012, 07:26 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

Trim about 1/3 of the branch length when the tree is dormant each winter. Blooms occur on new growth in the spring and summer. Don't cut the branches all the way back to the main stem. That's what is called crepe murder.
  #8  
Old 05-02-2012, 07:57 AM
Golfer in Sanibel's Avatar
Golfer in Sanibel Golfer in Sanibel is offline
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: The Village of Sanibel
Posts: 380
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jblum315 View Post
There is a right way and a wrong way to trim them back, and I don' know how
I have read some websites about trimming. Basically, trimming is recommended, to a degree. Like anything else it can be overdone. You want to trim them just enough to prevent the branches from getting so long they sag. Whenever I think about overdoing things I think of my father. He overdid everything. It was the German in him.
__________________
Going from this to this
  #9  
Old 05-02-2012, 12:43 PM
rothbear rothbear is offline
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 70
Thanks: 68
Thanked 22 Times in 15 Posts
Default

PapaLarry....Here is great site to tell you about pruning Crape Myrtles, also has some good illustrations.

How To Prune A Crape Myrtle

We actually cut ours back more severely this year because I don't like the long "leggy" look of the trunks with just the tops having leaves. Prefer more leaves and less trunk. I was concerned, but not only did it come back, but it came back fuller and is still growing! My hubby is just amazed how they come back. We cut ours back in March. We even have a baby one that has sprouted beside the big one. It came up last summer and this year is about 2 feet tall so far. Waiting for the trunks to get a bit larger to transplant.

If you have Japanese beetles down there (we are still in SC), I strongly recommend using a systemic pesticide on them because Crape Myrtles are one of the beetles fav food. The one year I didn't use it you could actually hear them munching on the leaves as you walked past, and the tree seemed to "move" with them. It was disgusting and they would fall out of the tree all over the ground and all over you if you were standing near it. I use the Bayer Advanced granules and put it on in the winter.
  #10  
Old 05-02-2012, 12:57 PM
Dennis Ga Dennis Ga is offline
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Sabel Chase
Posts: 123
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

I've had Crape Myrtle's for the last 25 years and if you want them to really bloom they must be cut back in the winter. The blooms only come on the new growth and they look better if they have some shape to them, to me anyway. I had both types the tree that grows tall and the bush type that only gets about 3 feet tall.
__________________
  #11  
Old 05-03-2012, 06:30 AM
PaPaLarry PaPaLarry is offline
Gold member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: From New Hampshire Live in Caroline
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 42
Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts
Talking

Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeod View Post
Trim about 1/3 of the branch length when the tree is dormant each winter. Blooms occur on new growth in the spring and summer. Don't cut the branches all the way back to the main stem. That's what is called crepe murder.
Thanks so much. I will remember that in late fall, winter
  #12  
Old 05-03-2012, 06:38 AM
PaPaLarry PaPaLarry is offline
Gold member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: From New Hampshire Live in Caroline
Posts: 1,339
Thanks: 42
Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts
Talking

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!!! I'll make sure I don't "Crepe Murder" them. They look good already, and hope to see blooms in a few weeks.
  #13  
Old 05-03-2012, 08:04 AM
graciegirl's Avatar
graciegirl graciegirl is offline
Sage
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 40,170
Thanks: 5,009
Thanked 5,783 Times in 2,004 Posts
Send a message via AIM to graciegirl
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Golfer in Sanibel View Post
I have read some websites about trimming. Basically, trimming is recommended, to a degree. Like anything else it can be overdone. You want to trim them just enough to prevent the branches from getting so long they sag. Whenever I think about overdoing things I think of my father. He overdid everything. It was the German in him.
omigosh. Sis!
__________________
It is better to laugh than to cry.
  #14  
Old 05-04-2012, 01:30 PM
KittyKat
Guest
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by PaPaLarry View Post
Thanks so much. I will remember that in late fall, winter
Read an article in the paper that said not to trim them until late Feb.
  #15  
Old 05-05-2012, 09:36 PM
Jim 9922 Jim 9922 is offline
Veteran member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: North of HY 466
Posts: 879
Thanks: 8
Thanked 264 Times in 84 Posts
Default

Dormant time is when to shape and trim them. Just look at how nice the mature trees are on the golf courses and public roadways. However we learned (and it works) that if you trim the flower heads off when the flowers fall, so that the green seed pods don't develop, the tree will bloom again about 6 weeks later, and depending on the timing you can force a 3rd flowering.
__________________
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
Closed Thread

You are viewing a new design of the TOTV site. Click here to revert to the old version.

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:41 PM.