When I bought my house I had the same thing.What I did was cut at an angle below the fist that the tree made from all the trimming and only let two good upright branches grow from there. It too 6 years for them to start to look good but it worked.If close to Charleston I can take a look and see if your's can be saved.

Thanks BeetleBob,
Wow - 6 years, huh? Since they are not my own, and my mother-in-law is not a gardener (therefore, no patience). I think I will let her continue to commit Crape Murder! I am the one who thinks they look horrible. So I guess I will just avert my eyes. Thank you for your post!
Laurie

I'm glad that you have realized the error of many a Southern practices regarding the beloved crepe myrtle. Yes, topping a tree is not a healthy practice, but it does, in the end, create a maintenance nightmare.

What is more interesting to me is that although she prunes the crepes down to the trunk each winter, is that you said they don't flower very well for her. Since crepes flower on new growth, she should be enjoying huge waterspout flowerheads.

Are these crepes still in full sun? Or, is the soil overly wet? Maybe it's time to try some triple phosphate on them this spring to really jolt the plants into flower initiation.

Thanks Jambu,
I will do that.
Laurie

You can, however, do as you asked, yes. I have done it twice to trees I inherited with my house. I have cut them back to the ground and let them start over. They will come back from the base with brand new trunks, which can later be thinned to whatever number you want. (I usually wait to see what shape will come forth from the ground - 4 or 5 feet of new growth - maybe a year's growth - before thinning them out to 3 or 5 trunks) I have even dug up CM's and had them come back from leftover roots in the old spot. I prefer an odd number of trunks = more than one... either 3 or 5.

I did a test once... I had two identical CM's - one I "murdered" and one I didn't. They both bloomed the same... only one had a much nicer shape. I do not see where "murder" improves flowering at all.

Glad I found this post. I'm in the same situation except I unknowingly (from the north) followed locals' advice and am the crape murder culprit to the trees I inherited. Have 2 trees, full sun. Once in front of house-looks pretty mature to me (7 to 8+ ft tall, multi-trunked) and one in front of porch (smaller, never been as healthy and flowers/grows much less)

Any tips on how close to the ground to remove the limbs? The one in front of the house has multiple limbs that have no side branches til you get close to the top. Classic poor pruning, I think. Should I remove to the ground or just remove half of the limbs (i.e, would they be able to form a tree shape if I leave 2 feet of bare vertical limbs sticking up with no side branches)? Should I fertilize and/or water more, less, not at all? Is there anything else I can do to minimize the shock?

For the crape in front of my porch, I do need to keep it from growing too high (I don't know the species-I didn't plant it). Should I cut it back too to try and obtain a natural tree shape, and if I do, how do I prune it to control vertical growth without crape murder?

Thanks to all.