In the spring as the weather changes, many are concerned about pruning crape myrtles. Hacking the tops of crape myrtles has become a common practice in Rowan County as often referred as “Crape Murder.

There is no absolute "proper planting interval" for crape myrtle trees. Spacing is based on the mature size of the plants. Photo by LSU AgCenter. QUESTION: Horticulture must be like religion -- ...

Dan Gill is extension horticulturist with the LSU Ag Center. Here he answers gardening questions from Times-Picayune readers. If you have a question, send email to [email protected]. Please ...

This time of year, when we walk outside, we are immediately hit with a thick wall of Northeast Florida humidity. While most of our landscape trees and plants are drooping or having pest and disease ...

When we think of trees, the first image that comes to mind is usually something tall, leafy, and bulky over us. But you know,  not all trees are giants of the forest. Some are so small they barely ...

Name: The popular Crape Myrtle tree, with its brilliant summer flower display, is a tree that can cheer anyone who is heat weary. Crinkle-petaled blossoms cluster at branch tips and bloom for many ...

Editor's note: Brenda Smith is a graduate of the Extension Service Master Gardener class. This will be an occasional column featuring information indigenous to the area. For more gardening news, see ...

This is the time of year when we often see crape myrtles unnecessarily topped: Main stems that are several years old are cut back, usually leaving branch stubs 2-5 inches or more in diameter. Topping ...

Too often people hack away at crape myrtle trees and “butcher” them. The term “crape murder” was coined to describe this drastic topping of crape myrtles. Properly selected and properly placed crape ...

Perhaps anything that can survive the heat, humidity, rain and cold of the South is heroic. This is most apparent in the dog days of late summer when crape-myrtle trees burst into grandiose bloom.

The crape myrtle has become the standard of medium-size trees to plant in the Louisiana landscape. Crape myrtles are easy to produce, easy to grow and very inexpensive to purchase. But sometimes we ...