A while back, I did an article on how to prune crape myrtles. Since here in Columbia and Lexington South Carolina it is best to take care of these tree like bushes in February, before they begin to bud for the spring, I thought I'd post an update and some fresh thoughts on how to manage crapes...particularly, crapes that have been previously hacked on improperly.
One finer point that goes deeper on the subject than the usual "prune to train, prune off the spent pods only, don't hack on the large limbs" is what to do if the tree has simply gotten too big for the area or for your taste. These things grow very fast and before you know it you do have a big tree to deal with. Even if your crape myrtles have been perfectly manicured every February and it is now just too big, then what? No level of perfect cut is going to remedy the fact that you are now forced to either remove the tree altogether (gasp!) or go against all principles and commit crape murder (egad!). This situation is similar to camellias, where the bush has gotten so large that it is starting to look like a popsicle. So how to make the best of the situation.
I propose that you consider taking the whole tree down to the quick. Leaving a stump about 2" high...high enough to clear mulch but low enough to where it is not obvious. After you chainsaw it down, you then keep it watered and hope for the best. If you have any shooters with leaves you might want to leave those on until you get more shooters out of the stump. Then when those remaining shooters are no longer needed for their sunlight intake, you cull them to the quick. What were hoping for here is that the robust root system of your precious family heirloom firecracker red crape myrtle will quickly send up new shoots out of what is now a stump. The likeliness of this happening is quite high as, again, crapes are like weeds.
After a season or two, you then pick the shoots (4+ feet tall by now) that you like the most. You cultivate them to go in the direction you want and prune off the rest. It depends upon the situation but I recommend cultivating no more than 5 shoots which will one day be large (keep that in mind). So there's a potential solution to crape myrtles that have gotten too large and messy...
Another fine point of crape myrtle management is what to do with the large unsightly knots that have formed on the ends of the limbs as a result of previous crape murder. Speaking as one who's eyes practically burn when I see something like this, I propose that instead of paying somebody an hourly rate to tediously cut off every shoot from last year's growth, that, since you've already entered into the improper management cycle of crape murder, you cut this time just under the large knot area into fresh stump. This leaves a cleaner look; as clean as it can get. And sure, year after year of this will lower that precious, smooth trunk, but it does look better than leaving the knots and eventually it'll be down to the ground as previously proposed as an initial cut.
As always, if I can be of assistance, let me know!
-ash, Busy Bee Lawn Care & Sprinkler Repair
