Crape Murder! I wrote about this two years ago here and apparently things are no better in our neighbor. Here is a photo I took a few days ago of this sad crape myrtle. It has been butchered and brutalized for years. I wish there really was a Plant Protective Services (PPS) agency to call (ha!). While I’ve been guilty of some of these atrocities in my distant past, I’ve learned my lesson and let my crapes grow.
Now I was at the River Oaks Garden Club this weekend and had the pleasure to photograph some glorious crape myrtles that have been thriving since the 50’s! Look at the trunks on these beauties. They looked hand carved. These are architectural marvels in this small courtyard.
Read more about Crape Murder here.
Hi Jacqueline!
We are in exact agreement on this sad situation. PPS would have a busy time around this city!
I have know idea how the notion got started that the crepes will bloom more fully by doing the amputations . Ugh!
There are gorgeous FULLY happy and growing examples over at the Houston Arboretum as well. I forgot about those at the garden club. They’re beautiful. Nice post!
David/ Tropical Texana/ Houston 🙂
Thanks David
I hope the more people see how beautiful they are when left alone, the more will change their bad behavior. Besides it is a lot of work (unnecessary I might add) to do prune them that way. So much cutting and then off to a landfill… Ugh!
Ooops….I meant ‘no’ idea. I’m really tired tonight. :0)
Things are no better here in Georgia…seems the theory to axe-murder crepe myrtles is everywhere. It’s very sad, to say the least. I’ve had to prune mine due to wind damage (straight-line winds broke my tree in two!), and another tree needs to be pruned away from the rain gutters. But the photos from your neighborhood show the absolute worst crimes against crape myrtles I’ve ever seen! At the same time, the trees at the garden club are the most unique and most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Thanks for blogging about this atrocity.
Thank you for chiming in. The more information we put out there about this, the more likely they will see it.