How to Prune a Boxwood in Winter

Boxwood hedges line homes and public landscapes, lending elegant shapes to many different planting styles. Because boxwoods blend easily with other plants, including perennial and annual flowers, trees and shrubs, they seem to fit in virtually anywhere. Perform heavy pruning on a boxwood in late winter or early spring before the shrub begins actively growing again to remove growth damaged over the winter. Shape the boxwood with lighter pruning almost any time of the year except immediately before the first frost.

Tarp
Pruning shears

Instructions

- 1
  Spread the tarp beneath the boxwood to collect the foliage you trim away.
- 2
  Trim any branches that appear dead or diseased by cutting them off flush with the next intersecting healthy branch. Check in the center of the boxwood for deadwood and remove it from the plant.
- 3
  Remove any branches that rub or cross inside the boxwood by cutting them off at the next largest branch. Rubbing branches may be spots where disease begins in the shrub, so removing these can help keep the plant healthy.
- 4
  Thin out the center area of the boxwood if the center growth is becoming too shaded. Remove the oldest and thickest branches to allow more light to enter into the shrub, cutting them off where they intersect with a larger branch or with the crown of the shrub. Do not remove more than one-third of the shrub when you prune.
- 5
  Shape the boxwood by removing the newest growth around its perimeter. Do not remove more than one-third of the length of the branches to shape the boxwood.
- 6
  Pull up the tarp after you finish pruning and discard the pruned foliage in the trash.

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