Here's The Prime Time To Prune Your Crepe Myrtle Tree, And How To Do It

In the picture above, it's obvious that something has gone wrong. When you drive past a heavily pruned crepe myrtle tree (occasionally spelled "crape myrtle") your impression might be that someone started making a naturalistic fence from downed tree limbs, then thought better of it. Or perhaps a handful of Hogwarts students crashed while converging on a golden snitch and left their brooms embedded in the dirt as they headed for the hospital wing. The wrongness of this pruning technique is palpable, and it's no way to treat one of the best ornamental trees around.

Instead, listen to Rhonda Kaiser, a Texas master gardener as well as a business owner and content creator at Southern Home & Farm. With 156,000 followers on her @southernhomeandfarm Instagram page, she's a gardening expert you can trust. Hunker spoke with Kaiser exclusively about pruning crepe myrtles. "It helps maintain their beautiful, natural shape, encourages strong branches that hold blooms upright, and opens up the canopy to reveal the gorgeous, smooth, multi-toned bark that makes mature trees so stunning," she said.

But what kind of "pruning" do crepe myrtles need?  The right kind matters. "When deciding how much to prune your crepe myrtle, thinning is the way to go," Kaiser said. "Focus on cutting away any extra, damaged, or inward-growing branches to improve airflow and show off the tree's beautiful natural shape and smooth, sculptural trunks. Whatever you do, avoid topping the tree (chopping off the top), as it leads to a bunch of weak, spindly branches. This not only takes away from the tree's beauty but also makes it more prone to pests and disease."

Of course, pruning is an act of gardening. That is, it's an act of intercession by which we give a plant a bit of help ... for surviving in a particular environment, for example, or to give a tree a pleasing shape. And since pruning a crepe myrtle is, at least in part, about giving the tree a particular growth habit and maximizing its summertime blooms, it matters when the pruning happens. When Hunker spoke exclusively with master gardener Rhonda Kaiser, she told us that the key is pruning when you can see what you're doing, near the end of winter. "February is usually the sweet spot for this task in most areas, as it lets you shape the tree before new growth starts to sprout," she said. "Since crepe myrtles bloom on new growth, pruning during this time won't reduce flowers — in fact, it can actually boost blooming."

Of course, gardeners can have their hands full at any given time, and late winter can be a busy season. "If you miss winter pruning, early spring is still a good time and shouldn't affect summer blooms too much," Kaiser said. But she warns against letting the task slip until late spring, which can delay flowering. No one's likely to prune in summer, but pruning in the fall can cause your crepe myrtle to enter the coldest season at its most vulnerable. "Pruning in the fall might cause fresh growth that could get damaged by cold weather," she explained. Remember, your goal isn't to stop the tree from growing, but to make it look like a tree.

Your timing won't be nearly as important if you go at crepe myrtle pruning indiscriminately with a chainsaw. Technique matters. When Hunker spoke exclusively with gardening expert Rhonda Kaiser, she advised gardeners to grab a few go-to tools for DIY landscaping – hand pruners, loppers, and pole pruners or a pruning saw, if necessary.

Kaiser's process is straightforward. It starts with shaping the overall tree by keeping the number of crepe myrtle trunks between three and five, with no more than seven. "If you need to remove any extras, cut them all the way back to the ground, making a clean cut right at the base," she said. Next, clear out the suckers around the base of your crepe myrtle to keep it from looking too bushy and prevent more trunks from forming. "Pull or cut them off at the ground to keep your tree looking tidy and tree-like," she advised.

The next pruning step is also about cultivating the quintessential tree shape: lifting the canopy. "To keep your crepe myrtle looking more like a tree (and less like a big shrub), trim off the lower branches from the main trunks up to about 5 feet high," Kaiser stated. You can go higher for taller trees. Periodically check your work from a distance to make sure the emerging shape is what you're looking for. Finally, thin out the top by removing branches that grow toward the tree's center, cross over other branches, or look unhealthy. "Always cut back to another branch, an outward-facing bud, or the branch collar (that slightly swollen part where the branch meets the trunk)," she said.