dibbit posted this on another thread and i thought it answered your ? perfectly. The latest from the Master Gardeners/Polk County Extension agent is to wait at LEAST 3 weeks after the frost before pruning out any "dead" stuff from your woody plants (trees and shrubs) - 4 weeks would be safer. Then cut back until you get live wood - i.e.; the cambium layer just under the bark is green. If you REALLY can't stand looking at them, then you can carefully take off the dead leaves, but be REALLY careful not to damage the buds that will be the source of the new leaves - do it SOON, before the new buds start growing. Perennials, on the other hand, you can clean up now. Water if the ground is dry, DO NOT FERTILIZE, and keep a close eye on the plants that had to leaf out again, as they should now be considered stressed, and thus prone to disease and bugs in the next summer.

I personally would let them get to their natural/genetically predisposed size. Eventually they will slow down. Then you'd only have to prune out an unhealthy or a wayward branch. Here's what I mean. If you bought a shrub that the mature height is 6' but you want it to be 4' tall. You prune it this year and it will spend all year trying to 'grow up' to it's mature size, 6'. Then next year you prune and its again tries to 'grow up'. The following year you prune, it grows. You will have to prune each and every year to maintain at 4' all the while it is trying its best to reach the size it is suppose to be. I just think it could put all that energy into making pretty flowers instead of trying to grow to mature size and I could be sipping lemonade instead of pruning it. If you buy a shrub that the mature height is 4', then its growing should slow down as it nears 4'. You might have to prune occasionally, but it would be ALOT less work, and you'll enjoy it much more. So what do you do if that location needs something only 4' tall and you've got a gargantuan gardenia? Move it! and put the right size shrub for that spot. That's what I had to do to lots of stuff when we moved here. Remember to remove the top growth a proportionate amount as to the root ball you dig. And keep it watered. I think the reason most gardens fail is that they require more maintenance than people have time for. Good luck and happy gardening.

I had a similar situation with an icemaker line that damaged the hardwood in the kitchen and an adjacent hallway. The insurer paid for replacement of the entire downstairs because the hallway hardwood had been discontinued. The adjuster indicated that if it hadn't been discontinued, they might try to replace only a few boards. (I would have fought her if that was a serious proposal, but it wasn't.) I'll echo weissman's comment -- I sue insurers on claims like this for a living, and for a small claim it's not worth it. The insurer should have brought in fans/blowers immediately upon you reporting the claim. Sometimes the fans/blowers can work wonders with drying things out, esp. if you're on a raised foundation.

I would remove whatever is damaged and wait for it to leaf back out. It should with some time. I certainly wouldn't replace them as they'll grow back fine eventually.