Good timing makes pruning easier on the tree and on your wallet. Here is a simple calendar for most trees in Asheboro and the rest of the NC Piedmont, plus the right way to handle a crape myrtle (also spelled crepe myrtle).
Most Trees: Late Fall Through Winter
For most shade trees, the dormant season, from late fall through winter, is the best time to prune. With the leaves off, it is easy to see dead wood, crossing limbs and weak joints, and a dormant tree handles the cuts with less stress.
Spring-Flowering Trees: Right After They Bloom
Dogwoods, redbuds, cherries and other trees that flower in early spring set their flower buds the year before. Prune them in winter and you cut off this spring's flowers. Wait until they finish blooming, then prune before next year's buds form.
Summer-Flowering Trees: Late Winter
Crape myrtles and other trees that bloom in summer flower on new growth. Late winter, before new growth starts in spring, is the time to prune them. So if you are wondering, the best time to prune crepe myrtles in North Carolina is February or early March.
Dead, Broken or Dangerous Limbs: Any Time
Do not wait for the right season to remove a dead, cracked or hanging limb. Those can come down any time of year, and they should, because they can fall without warning.
The Right Way to Prune a Crape Myrtle (Crepe Myrtle)
Drive through almost any town in North Carolina in late winter and you will see crape myrtles chopped back to thick, knuckled stubs. NC Cooperative Extension calls this "crape murder." It leads to weaker branches, later and shorter blooming, and more insect and disease problems. Crape myrtles are low-maintenance trees and usually need only light pruning:
- Remove suckers at the base and sprouts along the trunk
- Take out dead, broken and crossing branches
- Cut back to a side branch or the trunk instead of leaving stubs
- Keep cuts to small, pencil-sized branches in the outer canopy
- Snip off old seed heads if you like the look, but it is optional
If a crape myrtle is too big for its spot, chopping it back every year will not fix that. A smaller variety that fits the space is the long-term answer.
Never Top a Tree
Topping means cutting big limbs back to stubs to make a tree shorter. It weakens the tree, invites decay, and the fast shoots that grow back are weakly attached and break easily. Good tree trimming removes no more than about a quarter of the canopy in a year and cuts back to healthy branches, never to stubs.
Tree Trimming in Asheboro
We trim trees in Asheboro and across Randolph County. Call or text our main phone at (336) 523-8278 or our alternate phone at (336) 479-4339 to set up a free estimate.