I committed murder and didn't even know it!
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
United States
March 28, 2017 7:00am CST
I am a Yankee living in the south for 16 years...I will never be considered a southerner but that's fine. But I wish someone had told me 16 years ago not to commit murder. It's not who I murdered, but what...my Crape Myrtles.
Yes, I am guilty of trimming them back to nothing each spring. I was told they only bloom on new growth so get rid of as much of the tree as possible. Well, I did that at our last home we had almost 20 Crape Myrtles and it took a few hours a day for a few days a week to cut them back. It also produced piles of dead limbs that we dumped in our woods.
We had 20 or more Crape Myrtles at our last home and it took many hours of trimming and my husband hated it. When we moved to our current home 4 years ago he was happy to see just two small ones They didn't bloom much that year. The second spring I cut them back to almost nothing and they bloomed all summer.
Here we are at the end of March and I didn't even think about murdering my Crapes this year. I decided to let them go as they are and see what happens. I can always commit murder later if I don't like what's happening with them.
When it comes to Crape Myrtles I really don't know who or what to believe. I did watch the video in the link and it sorta turned me against Crape Myrtles just listening to his voice!
Photo is mine.
Learn how to correct crepe myrtyle pruning gone wrong.
14 people like this
13 responses
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
28 Mar 17
They are a southern tree, although they have developed some that can take a northern winter
1 person likes this
@Fishmomma (11658)
• United States
28 Mar 17
I chuckled at the pruning, as my murdered plant are roses. A big pain with all the thorns and mess they make really fast here. They need a lot of water to get amazing flowers and they are everywhere. I didn't know moving into the house how much work it would take to keep them looking like all the neighbors.
1 person likes this
@Fishmomma (11658)
• United States
28 Mar 17
@AbbyGreenhill This house has Climbing Roses that want to be in my neighbors yards. I cut off a large amount of the plant and so did my neighbors when I went on vacation. Grapes use to be worse, as the city helped me deal with pruning them.
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
28 Mar 17
@Fishmomma I live in the country so don't have to worry about anything like that.
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
28 Mar 17
The roses we had at our last house made a mess in the pool, but they required no work at all. ?They just grew and looked nice and smelled good.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (40020)
• Toccoa, Georgia
28 Mar 17
My husband always trims our crepe myrtles. He always does it the right way, thank goodness. And about you being a Yankee living in the South for 16 years,, my husband is a Yankee that has lived in Georgia since 1980. He considers himself a transplanted Southerner. He is from Pennsylvania and when we go up to visit his folks, his sisters say that he has a Southern accent now. His family has Yankee accents. It is so obvious. And, me, I was born and raised in the South. I honestly didn't think I would marry a Yankee. But, what drove him here was the college that he attended. That is where we met at the College.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
28 Mar 17
I will always be a yankeet. I was born in Maryland which is south of the Mason-Dixon line but I'm a northerner in language, food and other ways. I will never have a southern accent as most of the people I know are not southern. It's easier to pick up the accent if that's all you hear or you moved here young. My father was a Cajun from LA so you can't get more southern than that.
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
28 Mar 17
I always wondered if they really needed that or not
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
28 Mar 17
sounds like a lot of work... I hope not committing murder helps... lol 
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
28 Mar 17
Too much work if you follow the video - I'd rather hire someone.
1 person likes this
me too...
@JESSY3236 (22204)
• United States
28 Mar 17
I don't have Crepe Myrtles, but I did have two holly bushes. I hated cutting back them. I finally got my mother to try to get rid of the holly bushes.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
28 Mar 17
We have owned four homes in TN - the fist three all had holly bushes - why in the south people plant them I have no clue!
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91013)
• United States
28 Mar 17
Guess time will tell to see if you need to murder your Crape Myrtles again. Maybe it will bloom without harm this year?
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
28 Mar 17
It sure is a lot of work The two we have here are a piece of cake.
1 person likes this
@manasamanu (3797)
• Bangalore, India
28 Mar 17
I might have seen these flowers I don' remember. They do pose a trouble if they grow in large. Thanks for sharing it.
