I have a crape myrtle, as well as some ground-level shrubs, that were burned in a fire on my deck last week when my gas grill suddenly turned into a very impressive propane torch.
Should I prune off the burned branches now or just wait until late winter/early spring pruning time?
I’m not knowledgeable enough to offer advice, but that’s a great user name/post title combination you have there.
Depends how much you value you the plants.
There are wood borers that specialise in laying their eggs in burned wood, and from their they can move into healthy wood. They have amazing noses, and can smell burned wood from miles away. The burned wood is also a possible source of fungal infection that can kill the whole plant.
Neither of those events is *likely *to kill the plant, but it does happen. Your choice whether you want to risk it.
BTW, it’s Crepe, as in the fabric/paper.
I’d consider waiting until (and if) new growth sprouts from the damaged shrubs, so you can get an idea of how far back they’ve been killed. With an established crepe myrtle you could probably cut it back to (or close to) the ground and it’ll resprout and grow on into a good-sized shrub yet this year.
It’s spelled either way commonly - crepe or crape.