This was a brutal winter for many plants. At this point, people with winter-damaged shrubs are in a “wait and see” mode. If it was only the leaves that were toasted by the combination of wind, cold, and snow the plant should drop the dead leaves and put out new foliage as soon as the soil warms enough to give the shrub the “Grow!” signal. Once that happens you will see new, green growth from any of the stems that are still alive. At that point you can cut off the tops of the twigs and branches that are not producing leaves. Any stems that don’t have new growth by the end of May are pretty much gone, and at that point you can decide if the amount of live leaves and stems are worth saving or if this is a plant that should be replaced. (It’s OK to thank a plant for its willingness and then dig it up and put it in the compost. Many severely winter-damaged plants in natural areas are soon overtaken by the stronger survivors…we gardeners should never hesitate to take the same actions that Mother Nature does and get rid of the plants that have the most winter injury.)
Although you could give this plant a light application of an organic fertilizer and a top-dressing of composted manure, you can wait and do this once the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” signal has been given. Neither fertilizer nor compost will significantly help a severely damaged plant.
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