It's currently Crape Myrtle blooming season and their spectacular blooms are visually stunning. But once these trees drop their leaves in the winter, some unnatural maintenance practices can make them eye sores in the landscape.

Crape Myrtles are amazing trees that are very popular in landscape design for good reason. Besides their wonderful display of flowers, their bark is also very interesting. Many people maintain them by severely pruning back each year, called 'Crape Murder' by some. In some cases, this form can create visual interest when the trees go dormant for winter.

Often they are cut back even more severely making them look like long stumps. The issues that arise from this type of pruning are:

1. The trees produce whip-like shoots that are too weak to hold up flowers and they end up sagging.

2. It prevents the bark from turning into its natural beauty

3. It detracts from the tree's natural graceful form.

In my opinion, Crape Myrtles should just be left in their natural state with limited pruning, the way nature intended.

If you are interested in hiring Gill Gardens for designing, installing or maintaining your landscape project, please schedule your free consultation with us here: https://www.gill-gardens.com/schedule-appointment

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Greg Gill is a Professional Landscape Architect with over 25 years of designing, installing and maintaining residential gardens and landscapes. He is passionate about helping his clients achieve a garden space they will love and enjoy for years.

Registered Landscape Architect
State of California #6489

Gill Gardens serves the greater El Dorado Hills, California area, including Folsom, Granite Bay, Roseville, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe and everywhere in between.