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| Last winter was the first one in our new house it has two crepe myrtles in the front yard. After reading several articles on good pruning, I did my best with my two. I suppose they're young, only about 5-6 ft. high and the trunks at the base were maybe 1.25 in. in diameter. On one of them, I had to cut back a couple of the trunks because they were rubbing and/or twisting off in really strange directions. This left me with two trunks, which still produced a decent looking tree over the summer. As new growths came up from the trunk base, I would remove them until one came up where I wanted to have a new trunk. It grew to be about 3 ft high over the summer. But I wonder how to treat it now. I did not trim off the blooms. Since it's only 3 ft tall, I think if I cut it, it will fork at that height. I think I want it to get taller before it has its first fork. Do I do nothing to have its new growth be straight? What are my options? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by butterfly4u 8 (My Page) on Mon, Jan 21, 13 at 23:39
| Sugar, Let it grow at least a couple more seasons. Don't ever do anything about the blooms. Leave them alone. Every fall, when the leaves fall off, look at the skelton and cut away the branches you don't want at the base. Don't do any more cutting other than that. But let it grow for a couple seasons before you cut anymore. Your trees are really young, let them fill out and the trunk get a little more established before any more cutting. |
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- Posted by dottie_in_charlotte z7-8 NC (My Page) on Tue, Jan 22, 13 at 23:54
| I agree. Your baby trees need a couple years to get the roots established. Pruning so early makes them want to re-grow when they should be attending to growth underground for stability and search for water. Shape at the end of the season and trim off the suckers as they sprout but that's all. Crapes are all but impossible to kill once they are settled in and well rooted. After a couple years you can prune all you like. They don't need food. Just sufficient water to the surrounding area beyond the root ball. |
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