It's spring and the tips of my shrubs are brown, what do I do?

It’s spring and the tips of my shrubs are brown, what do I do?

Do not worry. This is normal during winter freezes when the leaves become ‘frost bit’. This happens on the tender leaves of many shrubs and evergreens in the garden. In my garden this happens after the days are unseasonably warm and then a dramatic drop in temperatures happens. It is not uncommon for the tips of any plant to freeze and the tips turn brown. So what do you do?

you can leave the plant alone
- some shrubs will grow and the brown leaves will naturally fall off
you can prune or trim the brown tips off
- which for most is the option to make sure the plant looks neat

Before I prune, I wait for the early days of spring to make sure there is nothing else going on with the plant and then I will trim off the brown tips. This will also encourage the bush to grow so now is the time to shape your bush for spring. You can either just prune/cut off the brown tips or shape the bush with a set of shears. Every gardener needs a good pair of pruners and if you like to trim bushes, then I suggest a good set of electric shears to make this gardening chore go faster. It's spring and the tips of my shrubs are brown, what do I do?