Deadwood - bare stems with no foliage and no buds - can be pruned out once the plant has fully leafed out.

As to the 'blueness' of the foliage (or lack of it), I'd wonder about the soil pH. Fothergillas prefer an acidic soil so that could be impacting foliage color. They are also an understory shrub in their natural habitat so some afternoon shade may not go amiss.

This cultivar also seems to have a proclivity for reverting back to "normal" green foliage as it ages. See discussion and example photos here:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5962694/does-fothergilla-blue-shadow-revert

Thank you, I’ll wait for them to fully leaf out, they’re still looking a bit sparse, nothing at all like they did when I purchased them last year.

They are in full sun, like all day full sun, I had read that was good for best color? I don’t know much about soil ph, but many of the neighborhood maple trees have chlorosis, if that is any indication.

Gosh, I hope they’re not reverting to green!! I think I read that post last year before I bought mine, but I’ll read it again, thank you!

eThey can revert. My first did. If you see "plain green" branches cut them out. If's really (genetically) determined to revert I don't think pruning will help. And I'm not sure I'd cut a lot of branches hoping to get rid of reversion phenomenon. It shape,flowers, & fall colors justify its existence without the blue.

I sent back one that the nursery delivered. Marked Blue Shadow but half was green.

The other was all blue. I haven't looked carefully at them this season to see what color.

I was disappointed at the sparseness of blooms.

Oh no! Have the blooms been sparse every year on your Blue Shadows? This is my shrubs‘ first Spring in the ground, thought that’s why my blooms were sparse. My neighbor has Mt. Airy and it has tons of blooms.

No, just this year. Some years they've been loaded. The rabbits were terrible this winter. Ate hydrangeas back to nubs. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but I don't see any blue foliage in the photo. It could be bright sun changes the view. in spring you really can tell the difference between the blue foliage and not-blue. They are very nice shrubs, no matter what color the foliage. But I prefer the blue, too.

well, be glad you have some tall sticks! Every year, no matter how big my fothergillas get, the rabbits just love trimming them down to about 6-10 inches tall! They must be some kind of gourmet rabbit treat!

Yes rabbits nibble mine but mine gets buried in snow so not so bad. Unfortunately a squirrel took a liking to it one spring and mauled it. It had since recovered nicely.

An old rant...

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/1586234/fothergilla-and-squirrels#n=2

tj

I’m following-up on this post with a more recent photo of my fothergilla, which is, indeed, becoming blue again. I snipped off the dead branches and it’s a pretty little shrub once again.

I see the blue tones but are the colors the accurate? There's leaves that look lime green to me. Maybe those are the newest leaves and will get the blue bloom later? The foliage is exceptionally pretty in the photo, but very unlike my blue shadows.

Thanks, the newer leaves seem to be turning blue as they age...I’m interested to see what my shrubs will look like as the season progresses! Would you post an image of your Blue Shadow so I can compare? When I planted mine last year, they were entirely blue, but I saw some at a different nursery that didn’t have a hint of blue at all, even though they were tagged Blue Shadow. Weird!

Found this 4 year thread while sitting in the driveway gazing at the same ”blue shadows” now pondering whether to trim backafter flowering . Its blooms sre sparce and it seems leggy. Any more thoughts on care and maintence of fothergilla ”blue shadow?”

That is beautiful! i love to prune so Im sure id be cutting out dead wood or really thick old branches. This would not necessarily cure my itchy palms or help the shrub but might keep me away from the last hydrangea where id hurt my shoulder pruning the thick older branches.