Crapemyrtle Pruning: Shannon Pable on Structure & Pest Management

Certified Arborist Shannon Pable distinguishes pollarding (cutting above previous pollard cuts) from topping (cutting below). Once pollarded, a tree must continue the practice due to altered structure.

She recommends removing dead, diseased, and rubbing branches, thinning to finger-sized stems, and keeping forked branches in threes. For 'Natchez', stop pruning once a good base forms—it blooms well unpruned.

Pable notes that topping creates weak, soft growth prone to pests. She also observed that Sevin (carbaryl) sprays for Japanese beetles kill beneficial insects, leading to sooty mold outbreaks from aphid/whitefly explosions. Pyrethrins avoid this problem.