When to cut back crape myrtles, and why we will not top them
Late winter, before the buds break. And no, we are not going to cut it off at shoulder height, whatever the neighbors did.
The timing
February into early March, while the tree is still dormant and you can see its structure. Crape myrtles bloom on new wood, so a dormant-season cut does not cost you flowers — it sets up the growth that carries them.
Prune in the fall and you risk pushing tender growth ahead of a cold snap. Prune in high summer and you are cutting off the bloom you are waiting on.
Why topping is the wrong cut
Cutting every limb back to a stub is common around here and it is still a mistake. The tree answers with a fist of thin, upright shoots from each cut. They are weakly attached, they whip in a storm, and they turn a tree with real bark and winter structure into a row of knuckles.
It also compounds. Every year after a topping cut, the knuckle gets bigger and the only option is to cut it again.
What we do instead
- Take suckers off the base and any crossing or rubbing limbs.
- Remove seed heads and the thin twiggy growth at the tips.
- Lift the canopy gradually over a few seasons to expose the trunks, which are the best thing about the plant.
- Leave the leader alone.
A crape myrtle that has never been topped needs about fifteen minutes a year. One that has been topped for a decade takes several seasons of restoration pruning to look like a tree again — it can be done, it is just slower than doing it right the first time.