Last updated on March 16th, 2019
I planted tons of boxwood cuttings many years ago, and my, how they grew! Those cuttings today are enormous plants that I annually shear into hedge forms. Like all boxwood, the shrubs over time have developed a dense, green exterior — and a sparse (okay, nearly naked) interior. A special pruning technique known as “thinning” will restore the plants to luxurious good health:
Thinning is easy to do! Grab your hand pruners…
Reach into a shrub…
And cut out branches!
Never cut a branch below its first set of leaves. Pictured above is a branch I cut too far down.
This where the cut should have been made.
Is your boxwood large, like mine? Plan to remove 10-percent of the branches from each shrub.
Of course, the removal of branches will produce small holes in the shrubs. And that’s a good thing! Sunlight will reach the interior of each shrub, and encourage lots of fresh green growth.
What to do with your mountain of cut boxwood stems? Well, if you accomplish your thinning work in spring, the cut stems can be turned into new plants. Click here to watch me propagate boxwood.
Then again, if you thin your shrubs in winter, you can include the cut pieces in your holiday decorations!
Boxwood can be thinned any time of the year. But if you live in a very cold climate, like mine, you should probably do the bulk of your work while the plants are actively growing. I tackled two of my eight hedges back in December, before the snow arrived.
When, at last, the snow melts and the ground thaws, I’ll finish the thinning work.
Was this post helpful to you in some small way? You can let me know by leaving a comment below.
xKevin
Capri Winser says
Thank you, very helpful. I live in central Virginia on a home that goes back to around 1750. We have some huge boxwoods. Literally 20-30 feet tall in an old cemetery on the property. We also have quite a number of boxwoods around the house that are 12-14 feet high. Some of them were cut down to about 2 feet many years ago and have regrown to their present height. They need thinning!
I love your blog. It is an inspiration! I’d love to see more gluten-free recipes.
Patti says
This advise will make a significant improvement to my beloved box woods. I had no idea this was possible. I’m going to go back to read the article on propagating the cuttings. Thanks so much for making a difference. Love reading all your posts.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Capri – What a gorgeous property you have! Tons of gluten-free recipes on this site, and I’m always adding more!
Hi Patti – Boxwood is really easy to propagate. Have fun with your project!
Marcia says
Your pictures look well watered: irrigation. You’ve never mentioned water. Are you relying on rain? What is your rainfall? Being raise in the arid West I am mindful that boxwood might need more water than is available here in Indiana.
Marcia
Jamie Harris says
Perfect timing of this article. Thank you so much. My problem is actually very old leggy boxwoods that have now been reintroduced to sunshine! I plan to cut back this year and propagate the cuttings. I always appreciate you sharing your vast knowledge!
Peg says
Excellent article, very very helpful. I proprogated my plants like you suggested and they are lookin good after thre years.
Thank you!!
Peg
Peg says
Oops … misspelled propagated.
Peg
Garden Maven says
Great Kevin! But tell me how do you trim your hedges? Is there a trick to making them uniform in height and width. Mine always look like the back of a caterpillar!
MWG says
Thanks! Clear and concise. I now know just what to do after I put my gloves on. Your blog is a delight.
Bev says
Thank you for this simple tip. My boxwoods look love being so dense, but now I know what to do to keep them looking great for years to come. I love your formal boxwood garden. Very well designed!!! Thank you for all the tips you share with us… there is nothing better than learning things from someone who has actually done what they are talking about!!!!
Mina says
Very helpful! Thank you, Kevin.
Lisa says
I’ve been doing this for years! The first few times I did it, my husband thought I was going to ruin our well-established boxwoods. Now he can see that we have healthy FULL shrubs, not just long bare branches with a bit of green on the tips! It makes so much sense that nothing will grow where the sun can’t shine. Thanks for the pictures on where to prune – very easy to understand!
Mary W says
Mine spread like wildfire – Florida! Finally, my SIL took them out as they were just irritating. I think that now, after reading your post, I will go dig out all the babies that have hatched and stick them into the wooded and palmetto-ed edges of our property. If they swim, great addition, and if they sink, at least it’s better than the dumpster. Going to make the pie today, YUM.
Jan Lazar says
Good advice. I’ll be adding to my to-do list. Thanks !
Linda Williams Woodworth says
I think this will help my azaleas here in Georgia!
gene says
Thanks, I have one (1) boxwood plant, and I need hundreds to replace a long hedge fence. Thanks, Now I know how to do it.
thanks
gene
Dorothy Loose says
Good information. Kevin when should I start to propagate boxwood from cuttings. I live in NB Canada zone 4b. I have never tried this before but would love to as I love what you have done.
BTW I made your Poulet du vin recipe and it was a resounding hit at my house as have been all your recipes that I tried.
Cheers
Dorothy
Marsha says
After unsuccessfully propagating boxwood, I bought 6 – 1 foot plants on markdown at the end of the season…around $3 each… They do grow fast. Having said that, I may try rooting them again. You make it sound so simple. I’ve used my mulched leaves, at your suggestion and started perennials in the milk jugs. You provide wonderful ideas…love them all. Thank you!!!
At a local restaurant, here in CT. they make crepes with savory fillings.. Yum, Yum. I thought perhaps they were lined with gold because of the price. Needless to say, your video making crepes, was just what I needed. I am able to make them at home with your excellent instruction. Please keep the ideas flowing. I believe you are touching many lives with your website. Thanks again.
Rebecca Rosenblum says
How do you determine when or how often they need this?
Linda A says
As always, you’re an inspiration!
I should refer our city (here in Oregon) to your website. They want to ban juniper shrubs because they say the woody insides are a fire hazard.
Ginevra Chandler says
This makes sense. On a different hedge issue, how do you manage rosemary? Mine are getting tall and I want to keep them from becoming woody. I live in Norther CA but in a ver warm valley north of SF.
Thanks,
Giny Chandler
Denise says
Are you adding another exterior boxwood hedge around your boxwood garden? From propagating??
Lovely. I have many, many boxwood. Great architectectural paint all year round.
Kathryn says
Wow! Thank you for this advice! I have a boxwood hedge (for many, many years) and it looks beautiful–trimmed each fall. But, if I look inside, I see those bare branches that you mention and I have kept wondering if the hedge will begin to die out. I will try this…plus, I will give mine more water than I think it is getting now.
Tracy says
I love your gardening videos. Even though I’m not a boxwood fan, your tutorials are always succinct ct, often witty and very common sense. I prefer your gardening blogs to your cooking videos, but you must be a pretty talented guy, all around!
shirley welch says
Thank you this was very helpful.
Sarabeth Samoray says
Kevin – bravo!! I have six different varieties of boxwood all over our 5 acre garden – mostly planted as parterres or free-standing edging. I love them all – except Winter Gem which always burns in winter here in Michigan. I have used your wonderful method of starting babies and my nursery is bursting with healthy great little shrubs. Thanks so much for this new tip — a few of my hedges could use a little spiffing up. Hurry Spring! Cheers!
Julie R says
That was great advice Kevin. I too have Boxwood shrubs growing alone the side and back of my backyard as a natural privacy fence. I noticed that they were getting a bit thin a few years ago, so I trimmed them way back on the sides of them and the tops of them, but not the insides. They used to be around 7 ft tall and now they are right around 5 ft tall, still a good size for a privacy fence. Since giving them a major hair cut, they now look so much more dense, and you cannot see through them to the street any longer. So in my case, trimming on the sides and tops helped to thicken them up. Once spring comes, I will use your advice Kevin and give the boxwoods a trim in the middle to help maintain their beautiful fullness.
Sue says
Hi kevon
THANK YOU!!!your tutorials, commentaries,recipes practical easy garden techniques, humor oh and your violets !
Janet G. Metzger says
I have a neighbor who is a wizard with plants. she trimmed all my non-boxwood hedges last year. Now I know how she did it! THANK YOU! I will be able to do it myself!
Pam R says
Thanks for the lesson! I need to go to town on my jasmine shrubs and I’ll include the centers as well. I enjoy all your articles and videos, Kevin. So glad I found your website many years ago!! Keep up the good work!!
DJ Todd says
Love these handy gardening tips. I’d never take the time to look up how to correctly prune a boxwood but I certainly always read your posts and learn without any effort at all!! Thanks!!
Loretta says
I was just looking at my boxwood and noticed how bare the insides are. I am going to start pruning TODAY!!! I live in Williamsburg Va. and enjoy the many boxwood hedges in the restored area so I have a lot to live up to. Thanks for all of your wonderful blogs. We are still making your recipe for blueberry danish….yum!
Judy Sherman says
Two or three years ago I purchased a small boxwood plant at a church fair and planted in the northeast corner of my house. It has grown larger and has been doing well, however this spring the tops of the leaves are brown, but the overall plant remains full. Any idea why the leaves are brown? After reading about your pruning I wonder if it might be because they are not getting enough sun. Any thoughts about this? I would love to propagate, but alas, we have no more garden space!!
Pam says
Kevin:
Thank you so much – just in the nick of time! Our 4 foot boxwood hedge across the front of the house looks so ratty after winter.
Happy Easter!
Pam in Virginia
Christine McTague says
Great gardening instructions. Love boxwoods and your garden is exquisite. Love Avery too.
Nancy says
Do you have boxwood blight in your area? We are being advised here in Westchester County to not do any pruning until the winter because of it. Does that make sense because they are never dormant, are they? Mine will be very untidy if I don’t prune them.
sarah sprague says
This was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for being psychic.
Angelica says
Hi Kevin,
We’ve recently bought a new home… The property has several mounds of large boxwood shrubs, sheared into balls. They were planted in 2005. Figure I’m a minority, because I dislike all sheared boxwood and would like to let it grow out more naturally. I’m more of a native woodland fan. Hand pruning on occassion to maintain size but definitly not formed. Information on this has been difficult to find. Any leads or advise? Best to pull out?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Angelica – To transform your sheared box into naturally-shaped box, just prune out branches (as above) to admit sunlight and air. Then let the shrub grow as nature intended.
Karen says
Hi Kevin,
We moved one of our boxwood to another location but it was one that had gotten close to another boxwood and so they were both bare on one side. The transplanted one we put the bare spot in the back. I was wondering if the boxwoods will grow new leaves on the bare sides? If so Is there anything that we can do to encourage new growth on the bare sides? If not than we can always turn the other one around so that the bare side is in the back.
Joan McEwen says
very helpful. I really liked the visual showing where not to cut and where to cut. I have my work cut out for me! Thank you.
Designer Plants Usa says
I love how you turned your cut pieces into holiday decorations. Also, these winter images with snow look amazing!