Crepe Myrtle Pruning: Why Most Charlotte Companies Do It Wrong

Every February and March, the same thing happens across Charlotte. Crews drive through neighborhoods in Ballantyne, Myers Park, Dilworth, and SouthPark with chainsaws and loppers, and they butcher crepe myrtles. They hack the branches back to ugly, knobby stubs. The trees look like hat racks. Locals call it "crepe murder," and it happens so often that most Charlotte homeowners think it is normal. It is not. It is bad for the tree, bad for the blooms, and completely unnecessary.

This guide explains what crepe murder is, why it is wrong, what correct crepe myrtle pruning actually looks like, and how to fix a crepe myrtle that has already been topped.

Charlotte's Love Affair with Crepe Myrtles

Crepe myrtles are everywhere in the Charlotte area. They line streets in NoDa and Plaza Midwood, fill parking lot islands in University City, and anchor landscaping beds in subdivisions from Fort Mill to Mooresville. There is a good reason for their popularity. Crepe myrtles handle Charlotte's hot, humid summers without breaking a sweat. They bloom for months, from June through September, in shades of white, pink, red, and purple. They resist most pests and diseases. They tolerate the Piedmont's clay soil. And they look good doing it.

Charlotte's climate is perfect for crepe myrtles. The USDA hardiness zone here is 7b to 8a, which means winters are mild enough for crepe myrtles to thrive, and summers are long and hot enough to produce the extended bloom season these trees are known for. You will find crepe myrtles in nearly every Charlotte neighborhood, and most homeowners care about them enough to want them pruned. The problem is that most of the pruning being done is wrong.

What Is Crepe Murder?

Crepe murder is the practice of cutting all the branches of a crepe myrtle back to the same height, leaving thick stubs with no side branches. It is also called "topping." The result looks like someone took a hedge trimmer to the top of the tree and lopped everything off at four or five feet above the main trunk.

You have seen this. Drive down any major road in Charlotte between February and April and you will see crepe myrtles that look like they have been punished. Just fists of knobby, scarred wood where graceful branches used to be.

Topping crepe myrtles is the default approach for many landscape maintenance companies and even some tree service companies in the Charlotte area. It is fast, requires no skill, and looks dramatic, so homeowners feel like they are getting their money's worth. But it damages the tree every single time it is done.

Why Topping Is Bad for Crepe Myrtles

Here is what actually happens when a crepe myrtle is topped.

It Creates Weak Growth

When you cut a branch back to a stub, the tree responds by sending out a cluster of thin, whippy shoots from the cut point. These shoots grow fast but they are weak. They cannot support the weight of the flower clusters that form at their tips, so the branches droop and sag when the tree blooms. A properly pruned crepe myrtle holds its flowers upright. A topped one flops over like wet noodles.

It Makes the Tree Ugly

Crepe myrtles are naturally graceful trees. They have smooth, mottled bark in shades of gray, tan, and cinnamon. Their branches form a vase-shaped canopy that gets more attractive with age. Topping destroys this natural form and replaces it with knobby stubs that get worse every year they are re-cut. Each topping creates larger, more grotesque knobs. After five or ten years of annual topping, the tree is permanently disfigured.

It Invites Disease

The large wounds created by topping do not heal well. They become entry points for fungal diseases and wood-boring insects. Charlotte's humid summers create ideal conditions for fungal problems, and a topped crepe myrtle with open wounds is much more susceptible than a properly pruned one. Sooty mold and powdery mildew, both common in Charlotte, are worse on topped crepe myrtles because the dense, weak shoots restrict airflow through the canopy.

It Does Not Control Size

This is the irony of topping. Most people top their crepe myrtles because they think the tree is "too tall." But topping does not make a crepe myrtle smaller. The vigorous regrowth after topping often exceeds the height of the original branches within a single growing season. Charlotte's long, warm growing season means a topped crepe myrtle can put on 6 to 10 feet of new growth between April and October. You end up with a tree that is the same height but with weaker branches and an ugly structure.

What Proper Crepe Myrtle Pruning Looks Like

Good crepe myrtle pruning is subtle. When it is done right, you almost cannot tell the tree has been pruned. Here is what a skilled arborist or tree care professional actually does.

Remove Suckers at the Base

Crepe myrtles send up shoots from the base of the trunk and from the root system. These suckers pull energy from the main tree and clutter the base. Cut them off at ground level. This is the single most impactful pruning step for crepe myrtles and the one most people skip.

Remove Crossing and Rubbing Branches

Look inside the canopy. Where two branches cross and rub against each other, remove the smaller or less well-positioned one. Rubbing branches create wounds that invite disease. Removing them also opens up the interior of the canopy, which improves airflow and reduces fungal issues in Charlotte's humid climate.

Remove Dead and Diseased Wood

Take out any branches that are dead, broken, or showing signs of disease. Cut back to healthy wood or to the junction with a larger branch.

Thin Interior Branches

If the canopy is too dense, selectively remove some interior branches to let light and air through. This is especially helpful in Charlotte where summer humidity and poor airflow create conditions for powdery mildew. Thin selectively, not by hacking everything back to the same height.

Remove Seed Pods (Optional)

The brown seed pods left from last year's flowers are not hurting anything, but some people find them unsightly. If you want to remove them, snip them off where they attach to the branch. Do not cut the branch itself back.

Make Cuts at Branch Junctions

This is the key principle that separates proper pruning from crepe murder. Every cut should be made just above a branch junction, a side branch, or a bud that is pointing in the direction you want growth to go. Never cut a branch back to a random point and leave a stub. Stubs die back, rot, and create the ugly knobs that define crepe murder. When you cut to a branch junction, the remaining branch takes over as the new leader and the tree maintains its natural shape.

When to Prune Crepe Myrtles in Charlotte

The best time to prune crepe myrtles in Charlotte is late winter, typically late January through early March, before new growth starts. The tree is dormant, so you can see the entire branch structure without leaves obscuring your view. Pruning during dormancy also minimizes stress on the tree.

That said, you can remove suckers, dead branches, and seed pods any time of year. If a branch breaks in a summer storm, cut it back to a branch junction rather than waiting for winter. For general timing advice on tree work in the Charlotte area, see our article on the best time to trim trees in Charlotte.

How to Fix a Crepe Myrtle That Has Been Topped

If your crepe myrtle has been topped for years, you can rehabilitate it. It takes patience, but the tree can recover a natural form over two to three growing seasons.

Year One: Select New Leaders

Look at the cluster of shoots growing from each topping cut. Pick the one or two strongest, most upward-growing shoots and remove the rest. Cut them flush with the knob they are growing from. The remaining shoots will thicken and become the new branch structure. Yes, the tree will look sparse for a while. That is normal.

Year Two: Refine the Shape

The shoots you kept will have grown into proper branches. Now you can start shaping the tree using the proper pruning techniques described above: removing crossing branches, thinning the interior, and cutting to branch junctions. The knobby stubs from years of topping will gradually be hidden by new growth.

Year Three and Beyond: Maintain Properly

By the third year, the crepe myrtle should be developing a natural shape again. Continue with annual light pruning using the correct methods. Never go back to topping. The old knobs will always be visible on close inspection, but from a normal viewing distance the tree will look natural and healthy.

Size Management Without Topping

If your crepe myrtle is truly too large for its location, topping is still not the answer. Here are better options.

• Selective reduction: Reduce the height by cutting back to side branches that are at least one-third the diameter of the branch being removed. This lowers the canopy without creating stubs.
• Gradual reduction: Lower the tree's height by no more than a third in any single year. This avoids the shock response that produces all those weak, whippy shoots.
• Replace with the right cultivar: If the tree is truly wrong for the spot, consider removing it and planting a dwarf or semi-dwarf crepe myrtle variety. Cultivars like "Acoma" (white, 10 feet), "Centennial Spirit" (red, 15 feet), or "Sioux" (pink, 15 feet) stay smaller than the standard varieties that grow to 25 or 30 feet.

How to Find a Company That Prunes Correctly

Here is the reality: many landscape crews and even some tree service companies in Charlotte will top your crepe myrtles if you let them. Some do it because they do not know better. Some do it because it is faster and they can charge the same price for less work. And some do it because their customers specifically ask for it.

When hiring someone to prune your crepe myrtles, ask directly: "Do you top crepe myrtles, or do you prune them properly?" If they do not understand the question, or if they say topping is fine, find someone else. A company that understands proper tree trimming and pruning will know the difference and will be happy to explain their approach.

An ISA Certified Arborist will always prune crepe myrtles correctly. If you want a professional assessment of your crepe myrtles or any other trees on your property, an arborist consultation is a good investment.

Stop Topping, Start Pruning

Crepe myrtles are one of the best trees for Charlotte yards. They bloom all summer, handle the heat and humidity, and get more beautiful with age, but only if they are pruned correctly. Topping is not pruning. It is damage. It weakens the tree, creates ugly structure, invites disease, and does not even accomplish the size control people think it does.

Proper pruning takes a little more knowledge and a little more time, but the result is a crepe myrtle that looks natural, blooms better, and lives longer. If you have been having your crepe myrtles topped every year, this is the year to stop. Your trees will thank you.