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Crepe Myrtle Trees

Q.Crepe myrtle pruning

Zone Rome ga | Sarahh added on February 18, 2015 | Answered

I purchased a house that came with 6 crepe myrtle trees. These are all the older style, and were neglected for 5 years prior to my purchase. The problem is that the trees have been pruned back harshly in the past and have grown inwards, crossed over and all around the base are new growths up to 1 3/4 thick.

I have had to “murder” two of them due to a wisteria growing in and through them, making an awful mess that’s choking the trees. There are 4 along the fence line that interfere with the neighbor’s parking area and they want them gone. Now the temptation is to cut the tops off and start new with all of the trees. What do you suggest?

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theficuswrangler
Answered on February 20, 2015

In the interest of good relations with your new neighbor, think about what you can do about the crepe myrtles that are bothering him. Do the tops need to be trimmed back, or lower branches trimmed off? Or are they just too big? You might need to take them out entirely, and put in something smaller;it's always a good idea to consider the mature size of any bush or tree before it's planted, not after. Here are a couple of articles on pruning crepemyrtle: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/crepe-myrtle/pruning-crepe-myrtle-trees.htm
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep399

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