It’s time to trim Crape Myrtles! You don’t have to trim them if they aren’t pressed against the house or taking up too much space, but you’ll want to remove any suckers growing at the base. If you do plan to trim your trees, make sure you don’t commit crape murder. If you cut too low on the crape myrtle, it will cause knots to form in the branches when they begin growing again, and this will disrupt the whole look of the tree. Crape murder also weakens the tree and makes it more susceptible to disease or insects.
You’ll want to leave at least 12-24 inches of the limb to avoid over-trimming, and only trim limbs around a pencil width in diameter or smaller. Use your shears to make angled cuts along the canopy of the tree, removing suckers and small branches to your liking. The way you choose to trim your tree will decide the look and shape it takes as it grows. We hope this helps! If you have any questions, leave them below and we’d be happy to help. Have a good one!
