Hello. I'm a "new" gardener that is looking at a very brown 3 year old pink princess. I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on what to do with it. There are a couple of shoots at the very base of the 4 foot shrub which have remained green ... the rest are very brown with no evidence of any new growth. I'm not sure if this plant has been too damaged by our winter, or if I should prune it and if so --- to what degree. Help ... and thanks.
'Frades' froze this year. Probably most look like yours, the cultivar has a fairly high minimum temperature. It's too early in the year for replacement stems to be surging up from the roots. Winter won't even be over for another month yet.
Cheryl--these grow back rapidly from the ground, but this winter has killed back most or all of the topgrowth so it will eventually need pruning away. There is no hurry for pruning, unless like in my yard the looks are more important than the wellbeing of the plant in which case we've already chopped the butt-ugly dead branches away. Once new growth starts emerging, it is easier to see what's truly dead and needing removal.
My thanks ... I will let nature take it's course now that I know there will be new life from the bottom up!
