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Shrubs Topiary Northwestern Gardening

Overgrown Shrub Identification / Advice

4 years ago

I am in Seattle (8b) and have a row of neglected overgrown shrubs. I think they may be boxwood but that's just a guess. I tried to trim lightly them last summer down but they were too big to support their weight and never got to be very straight. This winter, we had an unusually large heavy snowfall that was on top of them for a week and that killed one and made a big mess of the rest.

I am not sure what to do with them- there seems to be some new growth in the inside but I would have to trim therm all way back to get them anywhere straight. I am reluctant to cut all the green leaves away but that is probably what would have to happen to get them back down to size- they are so big that they tend to fall down on their own and look bad. Any advice for how to handle this? When/ how much etc?

Thanks.

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Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
if you take the time.. to observe the gap.. where i presume the injury occurred ... you should be able to 'see' how the plant is responding ...

look for new shoots where material was broken ...

logic would follow that if you had pruned to that point.. the plant would have the same reaction .. and regrow ...

which would then leave you with making a plan on how far you want to go .. and how hard you want to work ...

im really surprised a little snow load killed a plant outright .... and i cant see such in the pic provided ...

if it were in MI.. i might think its a privet ... but there is no scale in the macro pic.. and this MI boy really doesnt know all the possibilities in the PNW ... so i leave the ID to others ...

ken
greenlaker7 thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
Embothrium
4 years ago
Yes, they're box. Cut at any height and diameter you want, it's still early enough in the season that you can get some good re-sprouting before winter.
greenlaker7 thanked Embothrium
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greenlaker7
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Thanks. For ID purposes they don't flower or drop leaves- just kind of stay the course.

I had already removed the dead plant, which is where the gap is in the photo- it was all brown/yellow, no more green. I was pretty surprised too- but our snow is known as cascade cement for a reason. Never thought I would have to shovel my plants- we generally get a light dusting every year or so. This storm was a good 6-8 inches.

I'd actually like them to be a bit taller, but they seem to be falling over under their own weight and that's why they won't stay even. Maybe I need to thin them.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
They're evergreen so no, they don't drop leaves in one go. But they do drop over time. And they also flower but the blooms are greenish in colour and not showy.

The photo angle makes it difficult to guess the height but box will not make a tall hedge. They are bushy and tend to dumpiness. As Embothrium said you can cut them back as hard as you like. That's why they're so widely used for (low) hedging and topiary.
greenlaker7 thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
greenlaker7
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks everyone for the advice. Dumpiness is a good adjective to describe the state they are in. I'll try to cut them back to a more manageable state.

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