Pruning Crapemyrtles

1. Crapemyrtle pruning should be done when the plant is most dormant. We do most pruning in January or February.

2. Crapemyrtles can be pruned in two ways - thinning and lifting, or heading back to form a pollard.

                                            A) Thinning - Removing interior crossing limbs and deadwood.

                                            B) Pollard - An approved pruning method that requires new growth
                                                                to be removed yearly back to old pruning cuts, forming
                                                                swollen "knuckles" that retain energy for next year's growth.


      A lot of people are familiar with the term, "Crape Murder". It is important to recognize the difference between "topping" a tree, and performing heading cuts to form a pollard.    Topping vs Pruning .

Thinning and lifting -    As Crapemyrtles grow, they
      get thick in the middle, and have crossing limbs and
      deadwood. Here, our Arborists get up into the
      crown of a large Natchez Crapemyrtle to thin it out.

This is what well thinned out Crapemyrtles should look like:

Another method of pruning Crapemyrtles is called "pollarding". To start a pollard, the uppermost limbs in the Crapemyrtle need to be "headed" back to form the permanent shape of the crown. This is an important step in the formation of the pollard because if it's not done correctly, it will show for years to come.

Here is an example of a Crapemyrtle that has been headed back in the past, and now we will come back and prune back to those old pruning cuts, but the important thing is we do not cut below the old pruning cuts.

This is one of our guys pruning this Crapemyrtle back to the old pruning cuts

This is the finished look of well pollarded Crapemyrtles:

Notice how the old cuts form large "knuckles". These knuckles hold energy for new growth and act as mini trunks up in the crown. Cutting below the old wounds would be plain old topping, and we don't do that. In terms of time and cost, pollarding is a more costly pruning method, and must be done every 1-2 years.