Can anyone tell me what I can do to keep new growth from growing on my crepe myrtles?

Question

I have at least 25 crepe myrtles and try to keep them trimmed to look like trees, but it seems I don't get them cleaned of new growth till I having to start over.  I have several that are taller then my house and when they bloom they are so beautiful especially if I've got all the lower growth off of them.  I was just wondering if there was something you could put on them to stop growth where you don't want it to be.  Thanks for any help.

Douglas Hunt · Answer

Twenty-five blooming crepe myrtles must make your home a beautiful place, Judy. While people think of them as shrubs, as you've discovered, some crepe myrtles do get to be the size of small tress. If you have one of the larger ones, it is going to be a challenge to keep it substantially smaller than it wants to be. The time to prune is late winter/early spring. Here's a recent Hometalk post with some pointers in this regard: http://www.hometalk.com/diy/grow/plants/southern-gardeners-are-contemplating-pruning-their-crapemyrtles-right-now-137071

Judy M · Answer

Thank you, I actually have 8 that are taller then my house.  They are really beautiful when they start to bloom, I have purple, pink, and a deep red colored ones.  The ones that are really tall only seem to have new growth pop up around the bottoms and I just like to keep them clean from as far as I can reach down to the ground.

Douglas Hunt · Answer

I think you are talking about suckers, then, Judy. You can prune these as they appear or use a product like Sucker Stopper.

Judy M · Answer

This is probably what I'm looking for, but I didn't have any idea what it might be called.  Is this the actual name of the product?

Douglas Hunt · Answer

Yes, that is the actual name. It works.

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Can anyone tell me what I can do to keep new growth from growing on my crepe myrtles?

Southern gardeners are contemplating pruning their crapemyrtles right now.

Suggested Project Book