Somehow, the belief that crape myrtles should be brutally pruned by cutting off their tops persists, even though it's inaccurate. Crape murder is a term that has been coined to describe this severe ...

Q: Every year, Japanese beetles attack my crape myrtle, but other crape myrtles in the neighborhood don’t seem to be affected. Why? Connie Stevens, Barrow County A: Mechanical factors of the crape ...

Years of improper pruning have taken their toll on this crape myrtle tree. (Alan Windham, University of Tennessee) QUESTION: While visiting a local mall, I noticed the crape myrtles had all been cut ...

High humidity and afternoon showers create the perfect environment for a multitude of problems for home gardeners. While some are having difficulty with insects and diseases, others seem to be ...

You’ve probably seen crape myrtle trees pruned to look like a coat rack. Hopefully, you’re not guilty of doing this. The term “crape murder” was coined to describe this drastic topping of crape ...

Japanese Maples and Crape Myrtles are two of the last trees to enter full dormancy and lose their leaves in late winter. Both can be safely pruned in late January or early February after you’ve ...

This improperly pruned crape myrtle tree has undergone “crape murder,” which is when the entire crown of the crape myrtle tree is cut off. Courtesy of Leaf & Limb, a Raleigh-based tree care company ...

Question: I have 5 crape myrtle trees. I live in Galveston and when Hurricane Ike came through in September the salt water I think killed them. They have not come back since then and are brown with no ...

It's a tough time of year, when the heat can beat almost any plant into exhaustion. Yet there are two summer-blooming trees worth enjoying during these hot weeks: the crape myrtle and vitex. Outside ...

Left, the winged seeds of crape myrtle; and right, an American goldfinch feeding on crape myrtle seed. (Image courtesy Gary Graves) Each year from summer into fall, ornamental crape myrtle trees in ...