Please remind the dear lady that the other BBs in the hedge need to be cut down to keep a uniform hedge now. BB is a coarse, dull shrub for much of the season before its' two weeks of gaudy glory. It's also a cheap, mass market Home Depot quality plant totally unfitting for the president of the garden club LOL. Really this is a golden opportunity to remove several BBs and create a varied, textured hedge with more interesting plants. The delivery driver did her a favor.

Can't tell much from a picture; need to do an on site inspection. But I doubt that it is dead.

Chris, Chris, Chris, this is not April 1. Burning Bush? Didn’t some ursine critter say, ”Only you can prevent flora fires”?

tj

Burning bush is a listed invasive species in NC. I would strongly discourage any replanting and urge you convince her to remove any remaining BB's and pick something else for the hedge.

And send that delivery driver my way..... know of a bunch of these that could be thankfully run over :-))

A 10 foot drop? yikes, how close did the truck come to going over??!

she should have her presidensts card revoked for whining about this invasive POS plant ...

are you serious woman.. you arent qualified to be president of a GARDEN CLUB ... how about idiots of the month club...

crikey

Those look kinda leggy and leafless inside due to lack of sun anyway. Maybe something a bit more shade tolerant. Something that blooms, for the pollinators.

Is it dead, yet? Probably not ... Could it be dead, yet? It would be if it were mine. Those were not spectacular bushes; I'd be replacing them with something nicer, like a dogwood, blueberry, mountain laurel, azalea, or lilac (depending on setting and goals) ... I'm sure there are plenty of other options, too.

Oh, the stories I could tell. Let me just say, it is not that kind of garden club.

The driver was delivering the portable construction toilet when it came dangerously close to going over the 10' drop of the dry stack boulder wall. The BB hedge is growing on top off that boulder wall and lines the driveway.

I went over and fluffed things up. One rooted trunk left on the main victim. The severed part had a few roots, so I stuck back in the ground just to keep her calm. Let her clutch her pearls for a few days and we'll see what happens. The Juniperus conferta got run over too. That will need some fluffing. It was already major winter burned.

BB is major invasive here. I am the gardener. I pull it everywhere I go.

"Burning bush is invasive, not intrusive. Big difference. Invasive means that it’s not native. It is by no means a dominating or spreading type of plant."

I think you need to examine exactly what 'invasive' means. And it's a whole lot more than just being non-native! The very basis behind identifying an invasive plant species is its ability to grow rapidly, spread freely, thrive under a range of conditions and invade natural areas to the point of overwhelming or outcompeting native plant populations.

BB has no troubles at all sprouting from stumps and roots. I wasn't the least bit worried when I saw what happened. The hole in the hedge doesn't bother me at all.

I don't know if it's proper but I call a non-native plant an 'exotic'. Either term works for me. But where it's from isn't the same thing as whether it spreads and takes over (as GG already pointed out).

The roots are still in the ground. Patience is what may be in short supply.

”Deadheading” has a specific meaning in horticulture. It is not usually done with a truck.

If the roots haven’t been yanked, it will recover. Burning Bushes get a lot of hate simply because they are labeled invasive. They are hardly as invasive as many similarly classified plants.

If you are looking to replace and add some year long color, consider Japanese

Laurel.