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Crepe myrtles, as well known as crape myrtles or Lagerstroemia, tin give your yard vibrant injections of white, pink-purple, and blood-red when in bloom. Simply when they start causing problems through unruly branches or insect infestations, they can exist quite difficult to remove thank you to their drought tolerance. If you're going to effectively kill a crepe myrtle, you need to properly prune it in grooming for cutting, safely cutting it to the stump, apply the right herbicide, and remove the tree stump remains.

  1. 1

    Prune your crepe myrtle in the winter or early on bound. During the winter, crepe myrtles are leafless, making information technology easy to run across all of their branches. Early on jump is the latest yous should clip, every bit later on this period, they begin sending out new leaves and branches.[1] Pruning helps remove the stray branches that tin pose danger and crusade injury when you cut down your tree.

    • Clip prior to foliage appearance or at the starting time of their growth menstruum to make the procedure more straightforward and reduce make clean-up time.
    • The latest you should clip is May.

  2. ii

    Purchase the necessary pruning tools. Your pruning tools will depend on the size of your tree and the branches that need removing. The about common tools are paw pruners, loppers, and pole pruners.[2]

    • Apply mitt pruners to clip twigs and branches thinner than 0.five inch (ane.three cm) thick.
    • Cut branches 0.5 to i.five inches (one.3 to iii.8 cm) thick using loppers.
    • Remove branches more than than 1 to one.v inches (ii.five to 3.8 cm) thick with pole pruners or a saw.

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  3. iii

    Cut the suckers at the bottom of the tree. Start by removing the small-scale sprouts at the bottom of the tree, likewise known as "suckers." They can be removed using a hand pruner when they first sprout.[iii]

    • Prune suckers equally close to the soil line as possible.[iv]

  4. iv

    Cut side branches that extend from the base of the tree's trunks. Remove side branches extending from the main trunks, moving upward higher as you prune. When the tree falls, these are the nigh likely to snap off and crusade harm. They're too much easier to become rid of while the tree is still continuing, as opposed to when it'southward on the ground.[5]

    • Cutting crossing, rubbing, and dead branches that grow at awkward angles terminal. Use hand pruners for the thin branches and loppers, and utilize pole pruners or a saw for thicker, taller branches.

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  1. 1

    Wear the proper safety gear to protect yourself. Cutting down a tree is no small feat, and before yous kickoff, y'all need to wear the correct protection. Always article of clothing a logger'southward helmet, earmuffs, a face screen, safety spectacles, thick gloves, and Kevlar chaps.[vi]

    • A helmet protects y'all from falling branches, earmuffs and a face screen protect your face and ears, and safe glasses keep the dust out of your eyes.
    • Kevlar chaps end chainsaws the instant the bar hits your leg.

  2. 2

    Estimate the felling zone using an axe. Well-nigh trees are taller than you recollect and can attain further on the footing than initial estimates. By using the "axe handle fob," y'all can make up one's mind how far the tree is going to autumn.[7]

    • Concord your axe vertically at arm's length and close one of your eyes. Either walk toward the tree or dorsum abroad from it until the axe is even with the treetop and the bottom even with the base.
    • Your feet should exist located where the treetop rests subsequently falling. Add ane to 2 feet (0.30 to 0.61 m) of extra room simply to exist safe.

  3. 3

    Cut a style for two escape routes using garden pruners. Although many crepe myrtles won't exist tall enough to pose serious damage, some tin can reach upward to 33 feet (10 grand). For these trees, cut away whatsoever castor around their trunk using garden shears and lay out two escape routes on the side of the tree.[8]

    • Each escape route should exist around 45 degrees from the other in opposite directions. Call up of the felling management equally the bottom line of a capital "Y", and the 2 top lines the escape routes.

  4. 4

    Examine the tree for potential problems. Before cutting down the tree, look out for loose branches, dead branches that are still attached, and buildings, fences, or ability lines that are in the felling zone.[nine]

    • Loose or expressionless branches should exist removed prior to cutting.
    • Determine which direction the tree is leaning past looking for the side with the heaviest load/branches.
    • If your felling zone contains buildings, fences, or power lines, stop here and call a professional.

  5. 5

    Create a notch cut using your axe. Using an axe, make a notch cut that is one/v of the way into the tree's trunk. The bottom cut should be 30 degrees from the horizontal airplane, while the top cut should be 60 degrees from information technology. The notch cutting will be the management the tree falls.[10]

    • Always start with the top cutting.
    • If you meet the top notch perfectly when making the lesser cutting, the wedge will drop out. If you don't, you will accept to extend the cuts from the top or bottom to let the wedge drop free.

  6. 6

    Cut the tree horizontally with a chainsaw using the apex as a guide. Your felling cut should be level with the apex of your notch. Describe a line with a slice of chalk connecting both sides for a guide.

    • Once the tree begins to lean, pull your saw gratuitous, hitting the saw's chain break, and movement to ane of your escape routes.
    • Continue your eye on the tree so that you can properly react if it falls in a mode that conflicts with your plan.

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  1. 1

    Spray herbicides on crepe myrtle during growing season. Crepe myrtle growing flavour is typically between the leap and autumn. During the tree's growth stage, herbicides will translocate through the found. Using herbicides during dormant flavor limits injury to site of application.

    • Herbicide application can come earlier or after cutting to the stump. Just applying after is more effective, as it is more likely to reach the phloem—the lite-chocolate-brown "inner bawl" that is located afterward the outer bark when moving inward towards the stump's middle.
    • During absurd weather condition, dormant roots make it harder for the herbicide to make its fashion through the plant, reducing its effectiveness.
    • Apply the herbicide to the bottom 12 to 18 inches (xxx to 46 cm) of the crepe myrtle torso.

  2. ii

    Bank check your mix's sprayer compatibility if y'all're using a branded mix. Sprayer labels should include supported branded mixes.[xi]

    • When tank mixes are listed, it means that the sprayer manufacturer has researched how to effectively mix the spray.

  3. 3

    Buy mix components if you're creating your own tank mix. Buy herbicide-mix components such as wettable powders and water dispersible granules, liquid flowables and suspensions, emulsifiable concentrate (ECs) formulations, and surfactants/solutions.

    • Wettable powders are solid pesticide formulations that are dispersed in water. Water-dispersible granules are applied later they are disintegrated and dispersed in water. They take longer to disperse than wettable powders.
    • Emulsifiable concentrates are pesticide solutions that incorporate emulsifying agents in combination with a water-insoluble organic solvent.
    • Surfactants are compounds that reduce tensions betwixt ii of the following: two liquids; a gas and a liquid; a liquid and a solid.
    • Never mix chemicals without knowing how much or how to mix them.
    • Wear eye protection, chemic-resistant gloves, long sleeves and pants, and closed-toe shoes to protect yourself from the chemicals.

  4. 4

    Fill your sprayer tank to three/4 full with water. Subsequently filling it with water, add your branded herbicide mix or—if you're creating your ain mix—h2o conditioners, buffering agents, or defoamers

    • H2o conditioners improve the efficacy of mixes containing glyphosate and glufosinate in herbicide spray systems.[12]
    • Buffering agents either facilitate herbicide activity, or facilitate or modify characteristics of a herbicide formulation.[13]
    • Defoamers are added to herbicide mixes to prevent uncontrolled foaming in the spray tank.[14]

  5. 5

    Apply water-based herbicides to the phloem of your freshly cutting stumps. In club for herbicides to be effective on stumps, they must accomplish the phloem, also known equally the inner bawl. When your stumps are freshly cutting, this is a great time to apply herbicide. Two applications (spaced apart by around 2 weeks) are recommended, as crepe myrtles are persistent.[15]

    • Use water-based herbicides like glyphosate or triclopyr. Triclopyr-based herbicides suppress growth, causing disruption that eventually kills the plant.
    • Spray new shoots with a broadleaf herbicide.[xvi]
    • Once you notice your stump beginning to rot and weaken, motility on to stump removal.

  6. 6

    Apply oil-based herbicides to actively growing plants (optional). If your crepe myrtle is actively growing, you need to employ an oil-based herbicide that can penetrate through the tree's protective layer roofing the bark. Utilise to the lower portion of the stem from the soil line up to 8 to 18 inches (twenty to 46 cm). Yous can chop actively growing trees afterward weakening them with herbicide application.

    • Use oil-based herbicide on plants with trunks up to half-dozen inches (15 cm) in diameter.

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  1. 1

    Remove the stump using a power stump grinder (optional). Using a ability stump grinder is the most efficient way to remove your stump. Position the grinder near your stump, turn it on, and begin pushing it frontward into the stump to grind abroad at its surface. Move information technology around the circumference of the stump to make sure you lot besides grind the aerial roots.

    • Stump grinders tin can price thousands of dollars and there are other ways to remove tree stumps for a fraction of a toll. The cost-effective alternative is using chemical stump remover—a process that is outlined in the steps beneath.

  2. 2

    Drill i inch (two.five cm) holes in the top of the stump. Using a 1 inch (ii.v cm) spade bit for your drill, drill ane inch (2.v cm) holes around the stump's perimeter. Exist sure to go approximately 12 inches (thirty cm) deep and iii to 4 inches (vii.half-dozen to 10.two cm) back from the stump'due south edge.[17]

  3. three

    Pour chemical stump removal granules into the holes. Buy a stump removal product from your local home hardware store. Most of these products are powdered forms of potassium nitrate, which accelerates rotting.[18]

    • After filling the holes with your granules, add water into the mix.

  4. 4

    Monitor your stump over the next 4 to six weeks. Your stump volition begin to get spongy subsequently iv to 6 weeks. If yous have whatsoever children or pets, go along them away from the stump during this menses.[nineteen]

  5. 5

    Break the remaining rotten wood with an axe. After the stump remover has accelerated the rotting process, you can suspension up the remaining woods with your axe.[20]

  6. half dozen

    Spray shoots with broadleaf herbicide. Even after you lot've removed the stump, you might notice new shoot growth. Apply broadleaf herbicide to any shoots that you lot notice growing back.[21]

    • Broadleaf herbicides are best when applied in the fall, with October beingness the optimal month. Broadleaf weeds are more susceptible to fall herbicide application because plants are more likely to move the herbicides down into their root and stem tissues.

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  • E'er wear condom gear when using a chainsaw.

  • Never utilise a chainsaw over your shoulder height.

  • Always wear personal protective equipment when you mix or spray chemicals. Habiliment chemic-resistant gloves, heart protection, long-sleeve shirts, pants, and closed-toe shoes.

  • Never pour leftover chemicals downwards a storm bleed or natural body of h2o.

  • Store herbicides away from children and animals.[22]

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Things Yous'll Need

  • Garden pruners
  • Loppers
  • Pole pruners

Saw

  • Logger's helmet
  • Earmuffs
  • Face screen
  • Safety glasses
  • Kevlar chaps
  • Chainsaw
  • Garden pruners
  • White chalk
  • Herbicide sprayer
  • Oil-based herbicide mix
  • Water-based herbicide mix
  • Broadleaf herbicide mix
  • Safety glasses
  • Gloves
  • Closed-toe shoes
  • Pants
  • Extension string
  • Corded drill
  • 12 in (thirty cm) fleck extension
  • Chemical stump removal product
  • Herbicide sprayer
  • Broadleaf herbicide mix
  • Axe

References

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