Don’t commit crape murder
Folks are starting to call us asking if it’s time to prune back their crape myrtles. The answer now and at any time of the year is, “NO!”
There is not a correct time or reason to prune back crape myrtles. You’ll still see some out-of-touch gardeners who whack the tops off their crape myrtles during the winter. This is a terrible practice, now condemned by all the gardening experts.
Topping the plants will weaken them and make them have fewer blooms that won’t come till much later in the season.
If you have a crape myrtle that is too tall for its place in your landscape, the best practice is to remove it and plant one of the dwarf varieties. You can find many crape myrtles that will not grow so tall, thus avoiding the temptation to whack them off.
So find some other gardening chores to do this winter — better yet, feed the birds!