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 ...

Crape murder is happening all over town. It doesn’t matter how horticulturists talk about proper pruning techniques, each year more and more trees are cut back to stubs. Standard crape myrtles have ...

I usually wait until mid-January to write something on this topic but this week I saw my first severe pruning of a crape myrtle for this dormant season earlier this month. So, instead of visions of ...

There's good news and bad news at Trident Technical College: we now have crape myrtle scale. The good news is horticulture students get firsthand exposure to this invasive pest. The bad news is we ...

Not long ago, I received the following email: “I have two crape myrtle trees in my front yard, one about 25 years old and one about 10 years old. They are in full sun. They usually bloom later than ...

Now’s the time of year you’re most likely to see naked crape myrtle trees, the unfortunate consequence of improper wintertime pruning. The practice has even been given a not-so-affectionate nickname: ...