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Pruning
Feb 15, 2023 20:57:45 GMT -5
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Post by Chuck McCue on Feb 15, 2023 20:57:45 GMT -5
Love your crape myrtle trees? Don't commit Crape Murder! 😱 "Crape Murder"—or, lopping off the tops of your crapemyrtles—is a very common way of pruning the plant, but there are better ways to prune these beauties! Proper pruning can give your plant a more natural look, give you flowers earlier, and will help your crape myrtle look nicer in the winter. Here are some tips for properly pruning your crapemyrtles: 🌸 Choose an odd number (we recommend 3 or 5, sometimes 7) of main trunks to keep for your plant. An odd number helps the mature crapemyrtle look more filled out. 🌸 When choosing main trunks and branches, keep canes that have plenty of room to grow. Also, keep ones that are fairly straight and already strong. 🌸 Prune any suckers as close to the ground as possible as soon as you notice them. Unattended suckers will create a mess at the trunk. 🌸 Do NOT use herbicide to prune the suckers on crapemyrtles. 🌸 Prune your plant so the branches spread in different directions. To do this, cut slightly above the bud that is facing the direction you want a new branch to grow. 🌸 Remove any growth smaller than the diameter of a pencil. 🌸 Remove any excess branches from the interior of the plant. This will help open the plant up and cut down on disease. See horticulture specialist Randy Forst's tips for pruning a crapemyrtle at instagram.com/reel/Com_xAmDmuM/ For more info on pruning crape myrtles, visit this site ➡ www.uaex.uada.edu/yard-garden/resource-library/crapemyrtle/pruning.aspx
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