Q: I have two floppy crepe myrtles, one more floppy than the other. I’ve never seen a floppy myrtle before. Is there something I need to do to make them stay upright and not flop over? In winter I cut back what I thought was overtaking the mailbox and drive way. I cut the whole branch where I thought it made sense. Other times I just cut it back to a joint.
Somethin’s telling me I wasn’t a good pruner!

A: If you had to do a severe cut back to keep the crapemyrtles the right size, that could explain the problem. Severe pruning leads to lush spring growth which is also weak….making the limbs flop

In winter try to prune away only limbs that are less than little finger width….not a big whack on everything.