How To Fix Crepe Murder | Southern Living

Learn how to correct crepe myrtle pruning gone wrong.

[@SuperDerezzed]

Thank goodness. Finally some logical advice about pruning these beautiful trees.

[@tamalajo8384]

Ugg, just bought a house that has wonderful Crepe Myrtles that they have murdered and now I have to start the process of saving these beautiful trees - thank you so much for this advice - I hope I can bring them back to beauty.

[@Immortal_Vanguard]

Thanks for this advice. My parents crepe-murdered several of my grandfather's old trees, and since I've purchased their old house I've been looking at ways to get them both under control and beautiful-looking again. My wife isn't a fan of the way they look now, but I feel like she'd like properly-pruned ones.

[@erinfallon]

Been looking for this advice for years!!! So happy to finally correct my ugly tree knobs.

[@jennholly1216]

I specifically told my gardener not to touch the crepe myrtles and he took a chainsaw to all of them 😡 Thank you for the video - repair year #1 it seems.

[@Preservestlandry]

Thank you so much! My home owners association was going to have all the crepe myrtles "trimmed," or so we were told. What they actually did was top them. It's so hideous I've been thinking of getting rid of mine completely. But now at least I know it can be fixed, although it takes years to fix it. But thank you, you saved a tree! :)

[@ckimlemieux8409]

I actually tried to get rid of 3 crepe myrtles in my backyard. They were along my pool and had grown to a great height. They were blocking light to my pool and to each other so they were only blooming on the very top. I had them cut down to the ground. I now have bushes about 18" tall where the stumps were. I'm going to let them continue to grow and see what happens!

[@hitmanhite]

Justified border, lol.

[@katiefoy4946]

We recently moved and the Crepe Myrtle in front of our house has 3 BIG trunks and was pretty tall. Before we moved in, the previous owners cut is with the ugly knobs. So for this year, we are letting it grow as is because we have never cares for this type of tree before. Is it possible to prune it back down lower to the big trunks?

[@Inkling777]

I'm following your advice about cutting, but I also took another step to keep one from spreading out. I used a strap to pull the three main trunks closer to vertical. I wanted it tall rather than wide. The first year after that it did poorly, blooming late. Since then it has adjusted and is doing fine. What's your attitude about encouraging that upward growth. The result has been a quite attractive tree.

[@jenniferreynolds8232]

Good info! My husband and I bought a house and I didn't know I had chopped off all the branches of a crepe Myrtle until the branches grew back and flowered! 😱 I thought it was a different kind of tree! Now I'm thinking of braiding the trunk. But, don't know if that's possible. Would I be able to loosely braid my crepe Myrtle?? Thanks.

[@kaylac3367]

Finally! Thank you. We moved into a home that has a crepe myrtle with the nobs. So after I cut off the jobs, the new shoots are there, then how do I trim it the following year?

[@thecooks8111]

Help! My gardner chainsawed my Crape Myrtle bush style trees down to about 5 inch stumps. They were about 15 feet tall. A bit heart broken. Will they grow back!??

[@beckymitchell6451]

Hi THANK YOU for your video!! Our Crape Myrtles were planted fairly close to the corners of our house. My question is can I remove branches facing the house and train it to naturally grow out away from the house? I know how beautiful they are when left natural!

[@BeckVMH]

I have the same issue. Mine have limbs extending over the roof and a routine accumulation of leaves on the roof. It's an issue that needs to be resolved.

[@modenajon]

Yes, cut anything back that’s hitting your house. It’ll be fine.

[@thomasmorrison6068]

I know this is an Old video. But hopefully I can get an answer. What do you do with a creep myrtle that has been cut down to a knobby 2 foot tall stumps?

[@SuperBoyd]

Where can I send you a picture? We have these trees into the entrance of neighborhood and someone murdered them. I would like to get them fixed.

[@SWells679]

Ok, this is good advice. But what if it's very late in the life of a crape myrtle? I have two in my front yard that I didn't realize I was supposed to trim...and now they're huge. I'm looking for a recovery method.

[@kathryn.5248]

Moved into a house where someone butchered two crepe myrtles and I am as embarrassed as they are to be shamed and robbed of their natural beauty. Anything I can do to help them now that it's fall and they are naked & stubby? We had a beautiful one in our old yard that was never mistreated, it also didn't have the response my 2 now have with losing all of their leaves at once. Is this part of the trauma, an indication of something like ants or pesticides used on yard or garden? I evicted ants with homemade solution and never use anything else. Old gardens (general front, butterfly sideyard, and veggies in the back all thrived) had bunnies born in berries, tons of butterflies and praying mantis in there. Any advice is much appreciated.

[@gritsonamission]

My ex husband, in all his infinite wisdom, murdered the crepe myrtle in our front yard, with me begging him not to cut on my tree. By the time the divorce was final, the poor tree had grown thick shoots from the ground, and all through the middle. There are quite a lot of branches and leaves growing up and out. But the smaller (almost as big around as my arm) shoots are making everything the wrong shape. I have my work cut out for me, going forward. It seems such a shame to cut the entire thing down, when there is beautiful growth and leaves in the middle. Would cutting the smaller shoots, and keeping them pruned down over the next years, be a reasonable compromise, or do I need to give my tree a buzz cut all the way across, still? I've got a brown thumb, and don't want to end up with a dead or seemingly lifeless tree. It was beautiful, before he cut it all up back in Spring 2017!

[@1MrBigred]

I have the same issue 2 years in the future! (all the shoots coming from ground level). Appreciate any advice should you have any, TIA!

[@Bichons9]

My son in law cut half off the crepe myrtles his summer with chain saw..I WAS SHOCKED but now, they are beautiful..Did the timing matter? Can I do this now in November ? since I have 35 trees that were not pruned last year and it would be so much easier to do what he did (at least one time.

[@gradice00]

I need some advice. I would like to send someone a video and pictures of the crepe myrtle of the house we already moved into.

[@6bt_str86]

Problem we have here in FL. Is clients don't understand crepe myrtle need approximately a 35 yd perimeter per tree and they put 3 of them 15' from a house out front, with a qtr acre total lot (not including the house) 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@wk4240]

That's what happens when people hire yard maintenance workers to do tree pruning, instead of real gardeners.

[@adamtominsky2812]

We live in Florida, moved in December and moved the tree to a new location by a professional. Here it is May 5, and still no sign of life, there is green under the bark, will it live?

[@blaziustheblaze9935]

What time of year should I perform this cutting? I bought a house that has four crepe myrtles that have been murdered by the previous owner like you wouldn't believe... huge ugly brown and black knots on all the branches. I've been dying to cut them off, but I'm not sure what time of year I should do it.

[@megaswenson]

Early spring is best, although late fall and winter are fine, too. But really, the tree should be cut down to the mulch line. Then, when new shoots emerge, select an odd number (3 or 5 usually) of shoots to allow to grow. This is a variant of the old practice of 'Coppicing'.

[@cynthiahammett8484]

Hi. Thanks for this video. I just cut half of the branches yesterday (fall). Then I heard it was suppose to be done a few weeks before spring. Is that true?

[@ThatsRightLawnCare]

Thanks for the tip. I just got a new customer with a murdered out tree. My first thought was chain saw. How low from the clump do you recommend sawing?

[@ejohnson3131]

Right below it he said

[@aaronkoeppe9057]

Thank you! This video really helped me out

[@psfgtech]

Planted in April, leaves falling off in May, but branch’s look alive. Will it come back in June? I water daily nightly in St Petersburg Fl. Thank

[@zvlaz]

did it bloom? These trees bloom around July

[@vickietomlinson1]

My husband cut our Crepe Myrtle down to the ground! Now it is tall with blooms, but unstead of a strong trunk, it is a bunch of weak shoots of small trunks growing straight from the ground. After the first rain with blooms, it is weighed down, with the branches bending. Do U tie it up? And can this problem be fixed or do we need to do root surgery and try to remove it altogether?

[@trulyrblessed]

My gardener did this!! I was pissed! Did yours grow back?

[@joaquinsolis7071]

I'm guilty of crepe murder. Thought they would grow back from the stumps but only suckers came out of the ground. Now that I've moved I will not be trying to do this myself to my new crepe.

[@stellahsgroove]

Hello My tree is about 9 years old....I live in Brooklyn (city) and have never cut my crepe myrtle...as a result it's really tall...is it to late to cut it across?...flat top?

[@dcano86]

What time of year is best to cut them in Tennessee. It’s July the 13th now and fairly hot.

[@richardspencer9276]

The end of February or first week in March!

[@dcano86]

Richard Spencer awesome. Thank you

[@franklinnagy4584]

I got about 30 25' crepes that line my drive way well when we bought it the previous home owner took a saw to them at the base and when I say base I could drive my mower over it. So if let them grow goin ob 2 years now and they look like a huge Bush with limbs all in my driving path what should I do

[@lissyniña]

Omg! Grumpy! Love ❤️ your article I read it all the time! Hey I have a flowering 💐 cherry tree I think is dying or dead...has wood mushrooms growing on one branch and a Place that looks like it's gouged out on 2 branches..it flowered like normal twice this year..any ideas? It's an older tree.

[@sarahvasquez5074]

Can anyone point me in the direction for a video on crepe myrtles being planted in shade? We just moved into a house where 2 crepe myrtles were planted under a larger tree. We saw spermatic branches growing really high into the larger trees canopy fighting for light, and the rest are pretty thin on leaf growth. I cut back branches on the larger tree to provide more dappled sunlight to the crepe myrtles underneath. We ARE in Texas zone 8 but the midsummer sun scorched things like zone 9-10. Will dappled sunlight under such a intense sun suffice? Or are these crepe myrtles just out of luck and doomed to sparse foliage and no blooms?

[@bmw3842]

how to make crape myrtle grow into a low bush? I planted four of them in my front yard and i want them to be more of a low shrub .

[@Nosibalasi]

whats the distance should you plant a crape myrtle to prevent foundation wall f4om being ruined or cracks?

[@RonHelton]

8 to 10 feet minimum. Further is better.

[@philthelawnman]

Crapemyrtel s can get extremely large. I am working on a video to show how big and out of control they can get.

[@jolyneshirley1109]

ROYAL LAWN CARE ,.

[@fedup1940]

@@philthelawnman Have you done your video and posted it yet?

[@jrhalabamacustoms5673]

Thanks for this, come this fall I have 6 large CM to trim, now I know how to not murder them!

[@mikeylikesit6588]

The previous owner of my house murdered them. What time of the year should I level cut those big ugly ball things off?.

[@abcnt]

January or February depending on your location is mostly during late winter.

[@garypick]

I had to cut mine in half because, due to another nearby tree, it wasn't getting enough sun and was growing to one side, towards my house. I now have the new growth and will hopefully get the tree to grow full and beautiful soon. Hopefully it won't be 5 years. :)

[@blackhouse7646]

What can i do if my crepe myrtles are bending instead of straight up?

[@YSLRD]

You may have a weeping variety.

[@orbanderson5585]

Problem with this is I can't stand twenty to thirty feet in the air after two seasons of doing this. Murdering is the only way I have been able to keep this from a 50ft bush.

[@megaswenson]

Either you should cut the tree down to the mulch line (called 'coppiceing'), or you should remove it, and replace it with something which grows to the size you want. The Aggies have assembled a size guide - all the way from 'Dwarf Weeping' (We use these extensively. They bloom like crazy, and are best left completely unpruned.), to the giants, like 'Muskogee' and 'Biloxi'. aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/databases/crapemyrtle/ Click on 'Variety Characteristics by Size'.

[@pamelariley9671]

ditto

[@02ninjaman]

my mom just commited crape murder on a tree my dad planted and he passed away a few years ago and i am saddened by the look of it, she turned them into a stump and they look hideous. so now i am trying to learn as fast as i can to save this tree since he specifically planted this one.

[@minkademko2335]

I agree with the chain saw method. My 20 year old myrtle has grown tall through the power lines to the house. It's massive and beautiful and is going to get it's first decapitation next week.

[@dayancmons]

Why would somebody give this a thumbs down? In what planet does someone think knobby crepe myrtle stems are attractive?

[@megaswenson]

Because his advice is nearly as bad as the original murdering. The two acceptable strategies, are to coppice the tree (cut it down to the mulch line, and allow new shoots to emerge), or to remove the tree, and replace it with a variety which reaches the desired height (not that this will do much good, since most subhuman filth believes that the lopping-off is actually attractive, and that it "makes 'em bloom more!"). A third option, to which a great many people are resorting, is to simply NOT PLANT CRAPE MYRTLES. There are just too many scummy, low-class pieces of human garbage, who WANT to do horrible things to crape myrtles. And eventually, one of them will find a way to do those things to YOUR crape myrtles (or cause someone else to do those things). I know of an enlightened little city in Mississippi, which had beautiful crape myrtles around its City Hall, limbed-up elegantly, as they should be. The city's landscape crew was there, one day, and some gum-smackin' WHITE TRASH SKANK, who worked in one of the offices, ran out and persuaded the crew to lop-off the Crepes, WHITE-TRASH-STYLE, "Lak thurrrrrr s'pose ta buae. Yeeeeeew know, thaaayit's haeyow thurrrrr deewin' eeyit naaeyow." So, the landscape crew ignored what the city's THREE landscape architects had said about the Crepe Myrtles (leave them alone), and did what the "hot girl" told them to do (she was wearing high heels, and drove a Camaro, which, to a a laborer with an IQ of 79, would have meant she must have been somebody important, with the authority to tell them what to do) That city no longer plants Crape/Crepe Myrtles, and has discouraged us from including them in the planting plans for properties we're developing there. Eventually, something awful ALWAYS happens to Crepe Myrtles.

[@veeyesforvengeance4056]

@@megaswenson You need some therapy.

[@bethht2818]

What do you do if you have a tree wound in your large 20 yr old Crepe Myrtle tree after husband prunes it that is three feet long and about three inches wide? Yes, a ladder and rope were involved to make sure it didn't hit a gut. And a pull by me. 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

[@TheRealThaenatos]

I see murdered crepes all over the place here in Maryland....I leave mine alone and only cut off dead branches.

[@megaswenson]

That's EXACTLY what should be done, in most cases. Crepes can figure it out, all by themselves.

[@annfraley7083]

Nothing wrong with that plan but we find we have to thin out the wonky-angled ones that cross each other or aim for the ground.

[@tracy7880]

Yay! I did mine right. 🤗👊🙌

[@billrhodes3065]

how can get the trunks to fatten up?

[@Dracule0117]

Time & proper pruning every year, probably. Like any tree, it'll take a while for the trunks to thicken.

[@megaswenson]

Nice so see that someone actually GETS IT (that the primary value of the tree is its elegant trunks, rather than the blooms). Time (and general growth of the tree) will thicken the trunks.

[@annfraley7083]

@@megaswenson I never mentally separated it out like that but I have so many elegant, aged CM around here as examples that I am looking forward to mine having that mature, balanced look. "Balanced" is the way I've always thought of it.

[@megaswenson]

@@annfraley7083 "Balanced": PERFECT. And truly, Crape Myrtles are perfectly capable of figuring things out, all by themselves. There are quite a few CMs at various family homes, which came up from seed, and have been left to grow, completely without interference (one always hopes for a unique new cultivar, and we want to observe their innate natural growth habit). They develop a beautiful architecture, on their own. We know a famous designer, who bought an otherwise- undistinguished little ranch house, primarily because it came with a miraculously-unmolested half-century-old Crape Myrtle. He planted a bamboo hedge as a dark backdrop, and admires the Crape Myrtle as a massive LIVING SCULPTURE.

[@Superduper666]

I had hired a guy to cut down a dying tree. He was dead set on cutting my crepe myrtle and he did so despite my telling him several times "no". He murdered my poor myrtle. It took 3 years for it to semi-recover. I'm still mad about it.

[@astucity]

I moved to Georgia from Ohio and my first Winter here I practically screamed seeing everyone doing this to their Crepe Myrtles. It's like a beheading.

[@cuz_i_sedso9574]

bought home with 4 giant Crepes planted right up next to the house. These trees are maybe 25 feet high - taking over the whole roof. was going to just cut them down completely because pruning doesnt seem possible. the first green branch are over 6 feet high and those are still 6" diameter. I might try to murder and resurrect like this.

[@Delphic1]

Those “ugly stumps” actually grow in Summer to become beautiful, flowering additions to the landscape. Stop calling it “murder.” Does anyone really care what a dormant plant looks like? We grow plants to be beautiful during the growing season…not the dead of winter

[@MSDOGS1976]

Ever tried decafe?

[@jonaveritt9197]

😆

[@ASeedSower234]

thank you so much for you video I am guilty... but no I have hope

[@Notmyhandler]

I just moved to north Georgia and see crape murder almost everywhere…it’s a competition here

[@charlescoker7752]

Or you can cut it back hard. Close to the ground, and let new shoots come up from ground level. After 3 years. Cut the old stump off as close to the ground as you can. And put mulch over the stump. Nobody will ever know!

[@megaswenson]

WRONG! You coppice the tree (cut it down to the mulch line), and, when new shoots emerge, you allow a few of them to grow. Then, you fire whoever murdered your crepe, and hire somebody new. The "ugly fisted knob" is what happens in the years, AFTER the jackass goes out and lops-off the trunks to a "nice, even, uniform..." whatever.

[@VampyrumFerox]

You know they trim them back like that at Disney World every year? I don't think it's because they're "stupid".

[@CanItAlready]

He never said anyone was stupid. He said those are the kinds of messages he gets from people.

[@cdbmoore5009]

There are many commercial landscaping companies that commit Crepe Murder. It’s probably cheaper to do this especially for a huge place like Disney World. They’re probably also trying to keep them compact and uniform. However, I believe this drastic pruning every year stresses the trees out and here in NC there are invasive Asian Ambrosia Beetles that actually are attracted to the ethanol released from stressed trees with thinner bark (Crepe Myrtles, Dogwoods, etc). Once these beetles bore inside to lay their eggs, they also deposit fungus to feed the larvae and either the tree dies from the fungus or a secondary infection to the damaged tree. I’ve read you often have to cut the tree down and burn it or chip it to keep surrounding trees from getting infested if they aren’t already.

[@lauracain7712]

I love this! Come to my house and help me!!!

[@Drift-Tastik]

I cut the F!ck off the leaves and branches YEAR ROUND. . But of course I cut the knots. The way they grow is ugly and they grow from crazy directions. The flowers looks nice. But that isnt enough for me to plant any in my yard

[@jimdavidson5208]

You have a racoon on top of your head guy.

[@joshmullins5646]

I moved in to a house that had Crepe Myrtles that had never been trimmed. They were 15-20 foot tall. Any time it rained even just a little they were laying on the ground because they couldnt support their own weight. I chopped those bad boys down to about 4 foot today.

[@joebruhin2098]

I like both techniques both can be most pleasing and also depends where they are planted....you are a bit closed minded don't you think?

[@liliaaricia]

This Latino people claimed they New what they were doing and murdered my trees I almost died too . 3 years God

[@MrRocco_]

Just let it grow

[@calebwillhelm2635]

No. Leave the 1/4 bottom of the knob

[@danieldean8686]

Don’t encourage your viewers to do something that might get their azz whooped. It’s good info but if a neighbor of mine was filming me to post on any platform later that filming device might become part of him. Just sayin…

[@aekracing3726]

🇹🇭❤️🙏

[@3Nails1Cross4Given]

Guilty!!

[@AZEVALPINE1]

What's wrong with us is we wasted our time watching some of this video. Shows anyone can post their thoughts on KZbin.

[@bk15911]

Better yet, rip out your Crepes and plan something native with some real ecological value.

[@ericgansauer708]

Crape Murder is the wrong term! It should be Crape Rape. Murder infers you have killed something or someone .Tape infers you have ravaged an individual without killing it/them but have done irreparable harm.

[@megaswenson]

Amen!

[@annfraley7083]

I like an intelligent comment. Now, take it to the next level by fixing that typo.

[@SCLWY]

Cut them any way you wish. If you like yours chopped - chop them. If you like yours free-range, then let them grow. Someone should coach this guy on his hair pruning? Yikes!

[@megaswenson]

Nothing wrong with his hair, although if you think Crepe Murder is OK, then you probably think something's wrong with hair that's not greasy.

[@veeyesforvengeance4056]

@@gidget8717 Bunny needs some therapy. Ignore him/her.

[@annfraley7083]

Most people I've seen comments from, who knowingly chop them, do it to control the height. I realize that in a lot of cases, the trees were on the property when they moved in. If I had a nursery, I would probably fail for lack of staff because I would require that they either know the traits of the variety the customer was considering or come and ask another staffer who did. What a concept. Sell the customer the item that suits their needs.

[@kimmisoo777]

It's called crepe rape not murder How can you call it murder when you didn't kill the trees I can't believe a couple of cupcakes changed the whole English dialogue around for words not even the mean what they really mean are you kidding me what planet am I on And murder is supposed to be less offensive than rape I've been calling it crape break for 25 years you people kill me