Brown in sections, due to disease problems is common with box (Buxus sempervirens), so is trimming into tight balls. You probably have box. It smells, if there was a foxy odor when you handled them that would pretty much nail it. Leave them unpruned to recover natural shape. Completely dead parts should be pruned out, of course. If you continue having branch discoloration/dieback you may have a root rot problem or other issue.

you shocked the hell out of it.. by moving it in the wrong season.. when the heat of summer started to peak.. you cut off all its roots.. and probably planted it in sun ... but since it was a gift.. you did what you had to do.. when you had too ... i often say.. life is all in the buds.. or the growth points.. and this plant sacrificed every single leaf.. to keep those alive.. water deeply.. and thoroughly and mulch properly.. for the rest of this year.. and let it NEARLY dry in between deep waterings.. do NOT 'feed' a stressed plant ... and later in the summer.. when we are sure what is alive.. and what is dead.. we will prune out the dead stuff ... i would not have bothered on a plant that size.. and whether you have the patience to look at it all summer.. will be up to you.. but if that was at my front door.. it would be shovel pruned in a minute.. its a nice experiment for way out back.. but my front door is more important.. that part is up to you ... it may take it 2 to 4 years to recover .... ken

You don't want to have new fresh growth going into winter so stop cutting soon (or now). Also tell the hubby to reach into the plant with hand prunners and cut back branches within the bush. This allows light and air to enter the cavity of the bush and allow new branches to grow. If you continue to "hedge" a plant (any plant) with hedge prunners after while all you will have is growth right at the tips (the outer edge) of the bush and when a section browns up and dies (and it happens) you will have no growth within the plant to take the dead spots place. Hope that made sense. :) Mike

You keep trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. Dr Scott, bless her heart, has dispelled a lot of horticultural myths, but one of the things that sets her apart is her ability to qualify her work as she writes. Dr Scott is talking about transplanting plants with viable, functioning root systems, not plants that lack a functioning root system entirely. "Research performed under landscape conditions ...." We're not discussing a plant you're shucking out of a nursery can and dropping in a planting hole, like Dr Scott is. Recognize this?: 6CO2 + 6H2O + sunlight ------> C6H12O6 + 6O2 See that 6H2O in the equation that is required for photosynthesis? If the plant can't take up and move water (no roots), how can photosynthesis take place? Roots come FIRST. The first thing to emerge from a seed is the root radicle, and a push of top growth (quantified as a function of sustainable mass) is always preceded by a volume of root growth sufficient to sustain the top. In this individual case and in other cases where the root system is severely compromised, it makes no sense to cling to (current) convention (square peg - round hole). It's spring there. The plant should have a LOT of energy reserves in cambial tissues, stored for the spring push. After the top is reduced, the plant will use stored energy to push root growth. As root growth comes on line, and the plant can support top growth, foliage will follow. Diminished auxin flow means cytokinin is king, so as the plant is able to support new growth, back-budding will occur and the plant will soon establish and maintain it's own balance between roots and shoots, as is their normal growth habit. Al