Topping crapemyrtles (“crape murder”) is unsightly for the eyes and unhealthy for the trees.

Here we go again. I see some folks are already hacking on their crapemyrtles. The only pruning crapemyrtles ever need (if at all) is thinning the trunks as they are developing to the desired permanent number, removing suckers as they sprout at the base and cutting out dead wood and crossing or rubbing branches. That’s it. As with all other ornamental (and shade) trees in our landscapes, they should never be topped or heavily pruned. And here’s why.

Pruning crapemyrtles late in the year decreases cold hardiness, and as we all know, we periodically go from a balmy breeze to a polar vortex.

Topping crapemyrtles causes them to sucker more at the base leading to more pruning and more work to remove the unwanted sprouts. The ultimate goal with crapemyrtles is to have a permanent number of trunks (odd numbers like 3, 5 or 7 look best) with no suckers and no more pruning. Bumping them with lawn mowers and string trimmers causes them to sucker as well.

Topping (“crape murder”) crapemyrtles costs money. Folks don’t cut and haul crapemyrtle branches for free and the gas and oil used for the power equipment isn’t cheap or environmentally friendly. I suspect crapemyrtle bark scale is spread tree to tree and neighborhood to neighborhood by pruning equipment and trailers as well.

Hacking and hauling crapemyrtles is lots of work. I myself have had shoulder surgery, two neck surgeries, back surgery, and four hip surgeries. I am certainly not looking for things to cut and pick up!

If your crapemyrtle grows too big for the space you have it in, then you have the wrong cultivar and should remove it entirely instead of chopping on it every year. Some are shrubs and some are trees. They range in ultimate heights from 3 feet to 30 feet. Plant accordingly.

Topping crapemyrtles produces a plethora of new shoots and narrow crotch angles for pesky crapemyrtle bark scale to hide and overwinter in. Crapemyrtle bark scale also likes to feed on new growth and callus tissue produced by pruning.

Crapemyrtles have some of the most beautiful trunks and branching structure of any ornamental tree that we grow. I promise you a crapemyrtle never pruned will always be prettier than one that is topped annually or even once.

Cutting crapemyrtles back hard produces long sappy growth that flops over and droops when they come into bloom. It also delays the bloom.

Topping crapemyrtles isn’t recommended by any expert or gardening publication on the planet, with all agreeing that it’s bad for the tree and unsightly.

Crapemyrtles require full blazing sun. If yours are in the shade, pruning them will not make them bloom better. Better to remove them and plant something else.

Greg Grant is the Smith County horticulturist for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. He is author of Texas Fruit and Vegetable Gardening, Heirloom Gardening in the South, and The Rose Rustlers. You can read his “Greg’s Ramblings” blog at arborgate.com, read his “In Greg’s Garden” in each issue of Texas Gardener magazine (texasgardener.com), and follow him on Facebook at “Greg Grant Gardens.” More science-based lawn and gardening information from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service can be found at aggieturf.tamu.edu and aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu.