Top Crape Mytles ?

Crazy_Jimmy

Crazy_Jimmy

Participating member
Location
Texas
I haven't topped any in years and I hate how they look afterward. We have a client that has several in a commercial project and they are too large for there space and they want them topped. Its either remove or top and they don't want to remove them . Just curious if anyone tops them and do you have to do it annually ?
 
Out to commit Crape Rape huh Jimmy? How old are the trees? They can tolerate PROPER pollarding well, but you must remember pollarding must start at a young age. Most folks around here call Crape topping Crape Murder, but I prefer to call it C.Rape. Murder infers that an action has caused death, but you can't hardly kill a Crape. If you absolutely must, cut at a node.
 
I don't know if will do it , just a bid one of my guys gave to a commercial client. I never recommend topping them , Im gonna go check them out myself and see what the options are.
 
As a rule, they're not big enough trees to fail under they're own weight, if the topping were to compromise structural integrity. And they're tough enough to withstand the abuse.

I consider them one of the few trees where it'd be an acceptable practice...if done politely.

You'll get a crazy amount of blooms the following season as they bloom on new wood. But they could look like crap until then too.
 
Just because they can tolerate the abuse makes it acceptable? Seems to me to be opposite to all we advocate for in terms of proper tree care.
 
They are damaging a condo because they are to large for the space.I probably will refer it to someone else if i cant find a solution. Just curious what you guys would recommend to mitigate the problem, oh and removal is not an option ?
 
I would try to persuade them to remove and replant an appropriate tree for the site. Perhaps a properly mature-sized cultivar of crapemyrtle.

You said you hate how they look afterward, and I agree. One problem with topping them is that you encourage copycats. Make it clear to the customer that topping them is going to cost more with increased future maintenance costs. Explain how planting the right tree in the right place will be more cost-effective in the long run.

Send the customer to a good online resource like Bonnie Appleton's publication on pruning crapemyrtles

Good luck. Some customers are difficult to persuade, but it's not impossible.
 
I agree topping is bad and not a preferable option on any tree. My point about Crapes being able to handle it is just this; One of the main reasons topping is so bad is that trees begin decaying at the point of attack, get a column of rot below, and become very hazardous. I was just stating that crape Myrtles escape this issue.

I still try to avoid it when at all possible. 90% of the time I see it being done when they're planted in the wrong spot. Usually between two homes trying to reach up for light and becoming very leggy.

For a client though, who asks for it every year, and who has been taught that topping is wrong, and that I'm pollarding a tree that successfully tolerates it, I'm going to continue to keep them happy. Our industry is doing a fine job at teaching the public about topping.
 
Not sure , but I assume its because of there limited budget and they just wanna pay enough to have them stop damaging there structures. They are in small spaces so to remove and replant isn't gonna be cheap. Like I said one of my sales guys looked at them and I will try and check them out , I am usually a lot more persuasive than my employees.
 
To be clear, I always educate the client on topping, pollarding, crown reductions, etc. Sometimes to a fault, as their face seems to glaze over. But I always teach that removal and replanting the right tree for the location is better. Many times they don't want to hear it. It usually is a battle between the husband and wife that I inevitably end up in the middle of. I know I'll catch h3ll for this but I also tell them, if someone asks who trimmed their crape Myrtles, please don't put my name on it. So be it.
 
This thread is Crazy, Jimmy--and useless without a pic, and details like how much the owner wants off. If a crepemyrtle damages a condo, that calls for side pruning, not topping.

O and Del, I posted pics of someone else's crepe job, so you must be talking about someone else...

A300--Defining the objective is Job 1. That ain't happened yet.
Defining the method comes 2nd. The craziest part of this thread is the reference to "Topping".
If someone asked 10 of us: at what point does reduction pruning become "Topping"?, how many different answers would they hear?
 
Retention of trees and plants is more appealing to me than just more removals. I like the challenge of going into these situations and finding a way to do the reduction work in a way that both looks good, is ok for the plant, and leaves the client satisfied. This constant toeing the party line of "never top a tree" just isn't realistic when it comes to urban tree care. Quality work doing reductions should be in every arborists repertoire. The remove and replant argument doesn't appeal to me a lot of times because the quality of plant material coming out of nurseries these days is so disappointing and the time it takes to get the desired effect can be years.

I often think "is it better for me, an arborist with over 15 years in the industry to do this, or should I just let Joe Blow landscaper hack them to bits? I think the plants vote would always be for me. The cuts will be perfect, the client will be educated, a proper schedule for future pruning will be discussed, and perhaps I will get a good referral to more appealing work.
 
My sales guy has them going in a different direction now.RyanCafferky I totally agree with you, I Just don't like to remove unless its a safety hazard or a Bradford Pear J/k.
 
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Retention of trees and plants is more appealing to me than just more removals.

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We should strive for retention whenever practical, but topping is most often not a practical, cost-effective long term solution.


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This constant toeing the party line of "never top a tree" just isn't realistic

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Agreed. There are rare instances when topping cuts are the best option.


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The remove and replant argument doesn't appeal to me a lot of times because the quality of plant material coming out of nurseries these days is so disappointing and the time it takes to get the desired effect can be years.

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Although the variety of species to select from is less than desirable, I haven't had a problem finding quality containerized plant material. I can almost always find a suitable cultivar of crapemyrtle if that's the plant the customer desires.


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...is it better for me, an arborist with over 15 years in the industry to do this, or should I just let Joe Blow landscaper hack them to bits?

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It would always be preferable for a qualified arborist to prune correctly. But if a qualified arborist "hacks them to bits", well, there is not much difference in that case.



Jimmy, let us know what the final decision is and show us some pictures.
 
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