In an earlier version of this article, the last name of a Smithsonian Gardens arborist was incorrectly stated. He is Jacob Hendee, not Jacob Hender. The article has been corrected. Spring has ...

Pruning like this may shorten the life of the tree. Horticulturists call the lopping of crape myrtle limbs 'crape murder.' Topping crape myrtle trees is certainly not, and never has been ...

You can leave a sucker to grow if you want a new crape myrtle tree in that location. Otherwise, the easiest solution is to pull or clip the suckers as they emerge. If they are short and young ...

Many gardeners also like to remove the twiggy shoots among the main limbs. Just resist hacking the crape myrtle trees and shrubs back to large stubs. What many refer to as “crape murder” ruins ...

This improperly pruned crape myrtle tree has undergone “crape murder,” which is when the entire crown of the crape myrtle tree is cut off. Courtesy of Leaf & Limb, a Raleigh-based tree care ...

How to prune crape myrtle is always a popular subject whenever I make a presentation about pruning trees. The discussion always centers around how far back you should prune them. Unfortunately ...

several of them co-claiming the crown as the "Crape Myrtle Capitol of Texas" (McKinney, Waxahachie and Burleson just to name a few). Once established, these trees can handle drought and heat waves ...

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 ...

an ornamental tree popular in landscapes throughout the state of Delaware, are prized for their beauty, exfoliating bark in shades of silver and cinnamon, and long-lasting flowers in a variety of ...

No gardening club would stoop to something as grotesque as a crape myrtle trail, unless they were toting around leaf blowers to deal with the trees’ prolific, if largely useless, buds.

Now’s the time of year you’re most likely to see naked crape myrtle trees, the unfortunate consequence of improper wintertime pruning. The practice has even been given a not-so-affectionate ...