What’s a gardener to do in winter? Bundle up, get outside and prune crape myrtles of course.
Most of the crapes at Busch Gardens are pruned the “right way.” Here’s the simple way of explaining what I mean by “the right way.”
- eliminate water sprouts, those straight shoots usually coming off the branch where something was removed from the previous season
- branches that are rubbing
- diseased, dead or damaged material
It can sound simple, but there’s actually a lot to consider.
When we prune, we prune back to the branch or trunk, flush with the branch collar – that rolled area on the trunk that leads to a different branch. A properly pruned crape looks good in all four seasons.
We prune a few selected crapes in a style called pollarding. This removes all shoots from the knot of previous years’ pruning, based on the natural growth of the tree. Pollarding creates lots of fresh shoots, each of which will flower, creating a flush of color during the bloom season.
What about that crape murder thing? That’s when the cuts are made with a chain saw at an arbitrarily chosen height. Again, you get a flush of growth, but the tree has only one season to look its best.
The funny thing is that pruning correctly, over time, is less work than the other options. Sometimes the pollarded trees grow so fast they needed corrective pruning while they are still blooming.
We have hundreds of crapes here at Busch Gardens, so my winter months are busy. Thankfully, I have help from others on our landscaping team to get all of them done on time. Hopefully, you have only a few to prune that you can enjoy this process and its results, and not have to spend too many days outside in the cold.
