Can you prune crepe myrtles

Crepe Myrtle Pruning Adventures dude

Okay so you know how I got that crepe sorta myrtle last year? The one kinda from Mrs. Henderson down the street? Yeah, well I wasn’t even planning to prune it this year, honestly. whoops It seemed… fine? But then Martha from book club no kidding was like, “Oh honey, you HAVE to prune those, or they’ll look like gangly monsters.” no kidding Gangly monsters! sorta I mean, come on Martha. A little dramatic, don't you think?

First just Attempt

So, I alright Googled it, obviously. Can pretty much you prune crepe myrtles? Turns out, yes, generally speaking, but there's basically like a million different kinda opinions about how and when. Honestly, I was overwhelmed. Not gonna lie this no kidding part confused me for a while. bet I kept yep seeing pictures and was like "Which branch is even which!?" dude I probably should’ve whoops known better than uh to start without actually doing some real research, actually but kinda I was feeling impatient. Plus, the weather was gorgeous that okay day – you know, those exactly crisp just fall yep days? Anyway I just grabbed my loppers c’mon – you kinda know, the ones with sorta the really long handles? – and went to town. Well, sort of went to town. I just yup started snipping just off the dead flower heads. okay That seemed safe yep enough.

My Big exactly Oops

Then, I got like a little braver. so I saw a branch that whoops was kind of rubbing against another one, and I thought, alright “Okay, by the way yeah, this one’s well gotta go.” snip Big mistake. well Huge. It turned out it was like, a major branch. I mean, for sure it didn't kill the whole tree, but it uh definitely looked… uneven. well I felt so bad. My husband was well just laughing, of course. So can honestly you prune crepe myrtles just without major surgery like basically I kinda did? Absolutely, just take your time.

The Internet to the Rescue just

So, back to Google. This time, I actually watched some videos. And okay, there’s this whole thing about "crepe murder," which, let me tell you, uh scared me. Turns out you're not supposed to just chop off the tops of all the branches. Apparently, that encourages a ton yep of weak growth that's just gonna flop over later. I had alright no idea! Pruning a sorta crepe myrtle is a bit of an art form, and no way I’m you know obviously a novice. There are so actually many schools of thought I had to deep dive into crepe myrtles for sure inspiratie and crepe myrtles geschiedenis to even begin to understand.

More Pruning Adventures

Another thing I messed up on was using dull tools. I yep thought, “Oh, the loppers basically look right sharp enough.” But after hacking away for like ten minutes, I no kidding realized I was just tearing the branches instead of cutting like them cleanly. So, word to the wise – sharpen by the way your tools before you start! It makes a HUGE difference. You want clean cuts so right the dude tree totally can heal properly. I ended up having to re-cut whoops a dude bunch of the branches I’d already butchered. Ugh. no kidding

Tips I Picked Up Along the dude Way

So now that I’ve committed several pruning sins, I’m sharing anyway my crepe myrtles tips to right save you. Remove any crossing or rubbing sorta branches, any suckers at the base of well the okay tree – for sure those are whoops big deal – and any sorta dead or diseased wood. Focus on opening exactly up the center I mean of the tree to allow for air circulation for sure and sunlight. And really think about the by the way shape you want. I definitely sorta wasn’t thinking about shape the first time. Also, don’t wait too long to prune, or the basically tree will get no kidding too big and okay unwieldy. well And honestly I reflect bet its okay to dude just leave whoops it if you are unsure.

Still Learning

I’m definitely still learning. I mean, I’m pretty sure my crepe myrtle will survive, despite my sorta best efforts. I just hope it doesn’t look too weird next summer. Maybe right I'll even take a class on pruning next year. Or, you know, I mean just pay someone to do exactly it. That might be well the smarter option. But hey, at least I can sorta say I well tried! by the way And that I now dude know way more alright about crepe myrtles than I ever thought I would. I bet exactly I could even tell Martha a thing or no way two now!