Crepe Murder and Other Indiscretions

The crepe myrtle is not the only victim of home owners, lawn services, landscapers and even tree companies. There are others.

Back to the crepe myrtles in just a few minutes.

Over just the last few weeks I have experienced calls to properties only to find that someone took the opportunity to, for the most part, end the life of a tree for all practical purposes and perhaps cut-back a shrub to next-to-nothing when it could have been properly pruned and beautiful, instead hacking away and waiting many years for it to resemble what it once was.

Some shrubs technically can become trees, while other plants will always only be shrubs and only trees. It's all about their species - morphology and growth habit.

I recently saw a holly tree cut down to about a foot. It was probably, guessing by main stem diameter, about ten feet tall, but it will probably take another ten years to resemble a tree and it will not be a pretty one. Such being done it should have been completely removed.

Again, some species within a genus can be or become trees or only be shrubs, something you may want to know when planting or purchasing a plant.

On the other hand, developers and some homeowners plant trees or large shrubs too close to homes. And, then there is Mother Nature - who is not to blame. Many homeowners simply overlook, what they thought to be a weed, become a tree encroaching their home five years later.

Back to crepe myrtles - potentially one of the most majestic trees: They can have the prettiest legs (wood) and blooms most any woman would envy, and a crown and canopy, if properly managed (pruned), which can grace even the tiniest of properties, if placed properly and addressed as a tree.

There are crepe myrtle shrubs, yet I have yet to see any in this area. All the while, many people continue to treat crepe myrtle trees as shrubs when they are so much to enjoy as what they are, a very beautiful tree.

When you have so many hacked crepe myrtles on your property rather than being plants of interest, focal points, you take away from the value of the plant (tree) itself and it loses its appeal.

Contact us if you need assistance with this or any other plants on your property.

Thank you.