If your hydrangeas, tomatoes, or hanging baskets are covered in crispy brown leaves after this summer’s heat, don’t reach for the pruners just yet. Gardening experts say removing every scorched leaf can actually make recovery harder because those damaged leaves may still be helping the plant produce energy. Should you remove them to help plants recover? The leaves you should remove are those that are completely dead and brown, as they won’t recover. Rather than pruning the tree or plant, individually remove scorched leaves to make way for new growth.