Crepe Myrtle...HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU'VE OVER PRUNED?

by Claude
(Hinesville, GA)

Hi Kimberly,

A few of my neighbors suggest that we have our crepe myrtle pruned but I was totally against it for some time.

However, I noticed while trying to remove the huge clumps of moss from the tree, many of the limbs were stringy and most had broken off so I took it as a sign to prune her.

I was told to wait until most of the flowers had bloomed and fallen off. After doing so, about an hour later, I saw black or dark brown beatle looking bugs crawling all over her trunks. I used a shrub and tree protectant, was that wise? I should have asked prior to applying it.

Also, I've never done pruned her before so I was also wondering if I did it properly?

Here's a photo of it when it was in full bloom and another after most of the blooms had fallen off and I pruned it.

Did we do too much?

Thanks for your help.