Berry Dazzle Crape Myrtle

We highly recommend that you mulch your Berry Dazzle Crape Myrtle Shrubs with either a ground hardwood mulch or a ground cypress mulch depending on your local availability. Any type of mulch will do, but cypress or hardwood mulch will be of a higher quality and provide better nutrition overall as they breakdown. Mulching helps to keep weeds away that will compete with your new investment for water and nutrients. A 2 to 3-inch layer of mulch is sufficient, but remember to take care not to cover any part of the stem of the plant with mulch. It's better to leave a one-inch gap of space between the mulch and the stem or trunk of the plant.

There are two schools of thought, and quite a bit of debate, about larger pruning jobs. Some gardeners like to lop off all stems at a uniform height each year, leaving branch stubs in the winter that flush out into a ball of growth in the spring. This is useful if you want a uniform border and height control, but it can result in bunchy growth and knobby stems that may be more susceptible to aphids and disease. Other gardeners decry this method as “crape murder” and adopt a less aggressive approach that conforms more to the natural size and shape of the plant. Most growers and researchers agree that only light pruning is necessary for plenty of blooms, so the choice is really yours.

The best decision about the size of your Berry Dazzle Crape Myrtle is made when you buy it. Buy the right variety to fit the space! If you buy a 15′ variety and try to keep it 7′ tall, you will prune yourself silly. Instead, buy a 7′ variety, and you will find yourself with an incredibly low-maintenance plant. To achieve a graceful tree shape that shows off the lovely bark, first remove all but 3-5 strong trunks. Then remove lateral branches on the bottom half of the tree. Make cuts on long, leggy limbs to encourage branching. Don’t over prune in the beginning – make the basic cuts and then allow the plant to grow, and continue shaping over time.

Lagerstroemia is a genus of about 40 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and trees from warm-temperate to tropical areas of Asia to Australia. They are grown for their very showy, lovely summer to fall bloom. In warmer areas, many can be grown as trees, but in colder climates they may be killed to the ground but re-sprout from below ground to be grown more as shrubs.

Berry Dazzle Crape Myrtle blooms on this year’s new growth (often called “new wood”), so prune during late winter or very early spring before growth starts. Fall pruning, especially in warmer climates, can result in a quick flush of new growth that prevents dormancy and makes winter freezes potentially deadly.