Home & Garden Trees & Houseplants

How to Hard Prune Boxwoods

By Home & Garden Last updated Sunday, May/19/2024

1). Cut back one-third of the boxwood stalks to ground level. Choose the oldest, toughest, tallest stalks to go first. Cut them off with pruning shears or a pruning saw for thick branches.
2). Prune back another third of the stalks the following year. Again, choose the oldest branches. Head any of the newly grown branches to start shaping the shrub and remove any branches that aren't growing in desirable directions.
3). Remove the remaining third of the old branches in the third year. Once these are gone, all that remains are new branches. Continue to shape and prune the hedge in the desired shape. Remove dead, dying and broken branches each year as well as any branches that are rubbing together.