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I have a boxwood that appears to have suffered some significant winter burn. About half of the branches have yellow leaves. What's the best treatment? Should I prune the affected branches, or leave it alone?

Green Tower Boxwood

Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL
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mrog
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1 Answers1

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One of the great things about boxwood is that you can prune them hard and they will come back from old wood. Probably the burning was caused by pruning late in the season which caused a flush of weak growth which was nipped by cold wind. Dead foliage tends to hang in the shrub, so for sightliness' sake prune out the dead, cutting back to live wood. Do it in your spring, prune it to the height and shape you need, and once done do not repeat except for very light trimming to retain the shape.

Colin Beckingham
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  • I'm going to accept this answer because it sounds reasonable and it's the only answer. My boxwood was more damaged than was apparent when I posted the question. It's now completely dead. Also, the bark is splitting and falling off. Is that consistent with a bad case of winter burn, or is something else causing it? – mrog Apr 26 '17 at 16:12