Why do some people chop off crape myrtle trees at about six

[raccoon]

Feet? And they do this annually.

[Phoenix61]

1. Otherwise known as Crepemurder.

It’s because they don’t know what they are doing. There’s a right way and a wrong way to trim a Crepe Myrtle and most folks do it the wrong way.

[cynatnite]

3. My mother made a point to teaching me how to trim them...

She loved them so much that we got three of them.

It irked her when she saw other people doing it wrong. I'm surprised she never walked over and instructed them how to do it.

[customerserviceguy]

8. We had a pro do ours

And we found out that they have to be done every year. All kinds of flora down here that I have zero experience with!

[Phoenix61]

9. They didn't chop they off did they? nt

[customerserviceguy]

10. Some parts were indeed lopped off

But, we let them get too out of hand. Our guy is a professional arborist, he also thinned out a lot of the trees at our place a few months ago. This morning, with the lashing wind, rain, and hail, we were glad that we had it done.

[Phoenix61]

14. If they haven't been done for awhile they may

need some serious shaping and thinning.

[customerserviceguy]

15. I leave it to the pro

to figure out what needs to be done. If I see other crepe myrtles blooming, and ours isn't, then I ask him some questions. They definitely do look less "wooly" than they did last year.

[unc70]

2. Ignorance

Crepe Myrtlecide

Really tall ones lined the road near the house where I grew up. They were 60-70 feet tall.

[CottonBear]

4. They've no idea that they really wanted a flowering shrub, not a tree.

The mow, low and go landscape crews do it, so Joe Homeowner does too.
Don’t get me started on Crape Murder. I am an urban tree specialist. I never specify Crape Myrtles for any installation.

[MagickMuffin]

5. We never trim ours

Except a few years after planting several. One had stunned growth and we just trimmed a little from the bottom limbs. That did the trick and is the same size as the rest of them.

[walkingman]

6. It's "officially" called pollarding but unless the Crepe Myrtle is planted in an inappropriate

place it is not necessary. I personally like the natural habit much better. Once you pollard the plant it is necessary every year. It does keep the plant at a specific height and size. We have some that are over 100 years old. Some of the original plant (in the middle) died and broke off but you can't tell it because the plants have sprouted around the base and it looks great. We have over 75 different plants of about 6 species around our place (Central Texas). They are one of the plants that can handle the drought and our hot climate year after year.

[GulfCoast66]

7. Because they watched commercial landscaping companies on company properties.

They get paid by the job and the faster they do the job the more jobs they can do. The company customers don’t care because they want the work done the cheapest possible. Running a chainsaw over them is the fasted way. Wrong all the way around, but fast.

Everyone has seen it for years and assume it is the correct method. Just leave them be. They don’t need pruning.

[Wounded Bear]

11. Because they can't reach any higher?

[shanti]

12. I hate them

There are two in my backyard that were there when I bought my place. They were actual trees, not shrubs. Anyway, I don't like them as they are very messy, so I had a guy come in and cut them both to the ground. I thought they'd die. THEY DIDN'T DIE. They just came back up huge, as a shrub and they're still messy! They're blooming now, so too late to cut them back.

[Blue_true]

18. There are companies that will pull up the roots, that will end them.

Generally, I don't like flowering plants that don't produce edible fruit.

[Phoenix61]

13. Excellent article on the right way to trim one.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.southernliving.com/garden/grumpy-gardener/what-concerns-p%3famp=true

[SMC22307]

16. I don't know but I can't stand it. The beautiful bark...

and vase-like architectural form is part of the appeal of crape myrtles!

[Jersey Devil]

17. Transplanted Yankee in NC, I don't touch them

The most I do is cut the suckers that come up at the bases. But it is not just crepe myrtles I see being hacked down by my neighbors, but lots of other kind of trees and shrubs. To me it seems just silly