Hi Barb,

This looks like winter damage, we had some really warm (for winter) days followed by cold nights and it is possible that your plant was damaged during that time. I would prune out what is dead first. If you see any new growth you can leave it alone but if you don’t just prune it out. I would not prune much more of the plant because you will be taking off the third of the plant that died over the winter and you don’t want to take off more than a third per year. Next year you can prune the taller branches down a bit and shape it up more. Does the plant get adequate water? If we are go into a drought situation this coming year, please be sure to water your plant at least once a week and if the temperatures go up to 90 and we have not had rain all week, water the plant twice a week.