Here are some pictures of the trees. I had to collect sooner than expected ,and there were so many I did not make boxes. I also got a nice azelea.

The boxwood in the first photo does not have the best nebari, but the trunk is so big I can't get both my hands around it. The houses I collected from were built in the 50's.

I inherited this old boxwood, I think it has some great potential. I just left it in its grow box over last summer because it had just been dug up, but I am wondering about chopping everything back. How do they do with back budding on old wood?

JLush. That's interesting material.

It looks like you can cut out the deadwood, and everything left of that. And use that nice curve to the right to start a wicked semicascade.  Give those giant roots a "purpose".

Mine is budding very low, and you do have some tight green, seems youll be ok.

Yea, it does, but it's better than my boxwood story. A bonsai friend of mine traded me building her a retaining wall for 5 30 yr+ kingsville she had in her her garden, my choice from 10-15 she had total. I took the ones I like, and my family had unexpected move and all my trees got placed outside a 2 months or so ago. I just saw them outside, I saw 1-3% of green, all else brown, I expect maybe 1 survived. This time the boxwood is literally greener on the other side

I prefer to leave the deadwood because there is a rotten section that I believe goes deep into the trunk. Here is my sketch.