How to Prune your Crape Myrtle

http://www.archerlawns.com/lawn-care-... Paul will show you the proper way to prune your Crape Myrtle so that you will have a healthy, happy tree. Transcript Hello, my name is Paul with Archer Services, and today we're going to be going over the proper way to prune a great myrtle. First off, on a crate, Myrtle, we want to come in and we want to prune off anything in this lower area that we can reach from a standing position. We really don't need to bring a ladder out and Second, we're going to prune anything that is a branch smaller than the thickness of a pencil. Third off, we're going to prune any branch that is growing against another branch and rubbing similar to this. Right here we can see we have two branches that are growing into each other. And when the wind blows, they rub against each other and create wounds that will make them susceptible to insects and disease. And then we'll want to prune any branches that are going towards the center of the tree. That'll just help for the future of keeping these branches away from each other, and so that we don't get any more rubbing branches. Now, when we come in to prune off one of these branches, we want to make sure that when we cut this branch off, we don't cut it way out here. We want to cut it as close to this main trunk as possible, so that we get a nice clean cut, and it leaves a good space for this tree to heal up quick and easy. If we cut it out here, this is just going to rot off and leave an open wound for a long period of time. So I'm going to go ahead and show an example of where to prune this tree. Now I'm pruning these branches. You want to make sure that you get in here and support the branch so that you don't let it fall, and strip the bark down the branch and create a big wound.