Pruning Crape Myrtle To Aid Neighbor’s View

Question

We bought a home 5 years ago that has a beautiful crape myrtle in the front yard (see photo). My neighbor who bought her home 6 years ago has asked me to prune the 35-feet crape myrtle shorter because it blocks her view. We are loathe to commit ‘crape murder’ but don’t want to be unhelpful to our neighbor. She said she ‘has a guy’ she’d pay who could prune it but we’re worried they don’t know what they’re doing and will make a mess of the tree. What do you advise? We want to cooperate so that we have a win-win: she gets her view and we still have a beautiful tree even if it slowly becomes a shorter tree. Is it possible to do modest pruning each year to eventually take 15 feet off the height and keep it there? How many years would this take (fewer years are better, as far as my neighbor is concerned) to maintain its beautiful shape?

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Answer 1

You can prune it without committing crape murder. Here is how:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/crepe-myrtle/pruning-crepe-myrtle-trees.htm

Here is another option for a tree shape:
https://www.uaex.uada.edu/yard-garden/resource-library/crapemyrtle/pruning.aspx
https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/crape-myrtle-pruning/