Not to be a wise guy, but if they are not cracked can you just bend them back up? Maybe tie them together with string until they stay up on their own.

Btw they're boxwoods. They'll take hard pruning.

They love their new configuration and spring back when just rearranged to the old one. I'll probably take your suggestion and just tie them up and hope for the best.

if you start working in tree/shrub time ... and just leave them alone for 2 or 3 years.. they will fill in ....

if you insist on a bit more instant gratification ... as in .. you have to do something.. or it will drive you insane ... lol .. then you can do as flora suggests ...

if they didnt recover ... pop back up .. within a few days of the insult.. they arent going to bend back and stay in the old configuration ...

im going to guess.. they are in a prominent place.. where you see them all the time ... and you are just going to have to do something .. check out this link.. watch a couple.. and then we can discuss the next step ...

do keep in mind.. in snow load areas ... this is ridiculously common ... so dont think you are alone in this regard ...

and of course.. removal and replacement with something that doesnt need annual shearing is an option ... IF.. you somehow dont like how they end up ... you can probably do better than the ubiquitous box ....

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=boxwood+rejuvenation+pruing&t=ffcm&iax=videos&ia=videos

Thanks. Yes, they are in the front of the house, this one immediately next to the entry steps. My wife is adamant that something be done. We like the sheared look, and if we moved this, sad to say, we'd probably replace it with something still needing shearing. I'm trying to avoid having this one appear on the "we need to transplant this" list, as there are already a number of candidates on that list (for other reasons). Gonna try the string and see if it saves me.

It looks as if someone shoveling snow may have inadvertently dropped a heavy load on the boxwood, or perhaps melting snow fell from the roof. I have fixed similar issues with twine.

@rmugg: Would you do us a favor and report back if tying the branches up works? I also have boxwoods but have luckily avoided this problem as of yet.

Yes, I'll post some pictures. I have at least three with this problem. It was caused by the heavy drifts of snow that piled up in that area during the East Coast blizzard. I have two larger bushes that at first showed signs of recovery on their own, but then really heavy rains of several weeks ago caused them to open up again. All will be tied up.

I'm probably going to use string. I'm afraid any wider/larger material will cause die back on the foliage where it is in direct contact with the leaves. It's raining cats and dogs here today, so I'll tie 'em up tomorrow (hopefully).

Tying up stems shout be on the inside of the shrub on the stick part of the plant, not in contact with leaves.

I'm not a regular in this particular forum so I don't know how much this has been discussed. I've had boxwoods for about 5 years and I shear them each year to keep their size in check. I finally had a respected tree service come out and look things over on my property and they said that my boxwoods were actually in poor health. The only foliage was within about an inch of the surface. All the branches inside the "ball" were bare stems. The boxwoods were also infected by a pest that I guess boxwoods are susceptible to. They recommended that I thin out the branches by removing approximately 25% of them in order to let sunlight through, which will encourage growth along the entire branch. I did that last fall to the point that you could just see through the plant to the other side, and I've now had two pest treatments. It's still early but there definitely is foliage growing inside the ball now. The goal is to get them where they still have that nice shape but also have growth throughout instead of just on the outer tips.

I've had plants for many, many years and am familiar with the various theories on shearing, good, bad, hedges need to be fatter at the bottom narrower at the top, never use electric shears, etc. etc., etc. And yes, the plants can be devoid of foliage "inside the ball" but gardening is a hobby of tradeoffs --- time, money, and effort -- and at least regards the maintenance of formally shaped perennials (of which, on my property, I have MANY lugustrum, holly, boxwood, azalea, camellia, cedar, and arborvitae) I have just enough of the those three tradeoff elements to shear with electric shears, not worry about lack of foliage inside the "balls," and maintain my hedges straight up and down. A huge field of azaleas -- perhaps 60 20 year old plants, faithfully trimmed by professionals during the years prior to our ownership last year is being left to grow together in a giant hedge. And we're hedging a previously distinct group of 20 or so boxwoods out front along the driveway into a horseshoe hedge vs. maintaining the individual balls. But I still have MANY individual and group shrubs to trim and maintain.

I wish I had the time to maintain each plant per the recommendations of experts but alas, I don't.

I agree with rmugg. It really doesn't matter much if the interior of a formal hedge or topiary is bare. As soon as they fill out again after the removal of shoots they will revert to a bare interior. That is their nature. They can thrive for many decades in that state. Renovation is sometimes necessary but only at long intervals. I have 25 year old box cones grown from cuttings which gave never yet needed renovation. They've needed only occasional repotting and bi annual clipping.

Well I'm still learning about boxwood care. As long as I can keep them free of disease I suppose bare stem thing is less of a problem... unless the bare stem leads to stress and disease? Anyway, for now I can keep them trimmed and thinned out so we'll see what happens.

I routinely keep small "windows" in my boxwood topiary and hedges open to let sun light in. If you continue to shear and not do so, they will indeed "revert to a bare interior" and eventually die.

And as for electric shears vs hand shears or even scissors, I prefer the latter two but the labor can be intensive. For the topiary I still use scissors. For the boxwood hedge borders, I began using electric trimmers three or four years ago. I don't like the look of the foliage afterwards, has a stark appearance and takes much longer to recover. However, the trimmers make quick work of it.

Last year I bought some small Black and Decker cordless grass shears that also have a small hedge trimmer blade. Bought two so I didn't have to stop and wait for recharging. So far, it's ok, even a somewhat natural appearance like with hand shears because the cordless have less power than electric (but still do a good job).

Can someone 'splain me the difference in the end result between hand shears and an electric trimmer for boxwood? I've been using shears to trim about 13 boxwoods and it does take a toll on the back. Why would using electric shears be any different?

I think, and this is just my opinion from experience, the electric trimmers (I'm thinking ordinary hedge trimmers) grab and tear the leaf (but quickly) and afterwards the look of the whole hedge is one of being closely shaved with white "tips" of the leaves where it was cut, like an injury. It goes away eventually when new growth starts to come in.

With the old fashioned hand shears or scissors, you are mostly cutting the stems of new growth along with the attached leaves and you get a nice more natural look. Still sheared, but not shaved.

But like I said above, I understand completely the desire to use electric trimmers! That's why I'm trying the small cordless hand held grass shears with hedge trimmer attachment. Less power, more control of the cut, but still does the job.

cordless shears

I can only comment from my own experience and that is that I've not had any box die from having a bare interior. All mine are in pots and, with occasional repotting, they are remain perfectly healthy. The oldest is a three foot cone about 25 years old from a cutting. I use hand hedge shears to clip them over.

I've now tied up four plants with brown twine. I think I'll leave them tied up until ~4 July, and then relax the twine on one of the plants and see what the result is.

@floral: I'm going to ask my tree guy about that. It sounds like there is more than one way of thinking on this.

@rmugg: Please post back with your results!

Here is how the boxwood looks after 35 days being tied back together with cheap brown twine, two loops around the plant low on the branches so they would all group back together in the center. I think it worked. I haven't "unstrung" the other four I tied up yet but expect similar results.

That’s awesome! That might be what mind are doing, I’ll try tying the branches too. Thank you for updating!

Looks awesome! Glad it worked.