box hedge with bare patches - Will new leaves grow?

[CTH_HOME]

We just moved to a property with a Box Hedge which has been allowed to run wild with brambles and ground elder rough grass etc climbing through it.
It has lots of bare patches which look dead -- will it sprout new leaves
from old wood it has it had it.
cth

[bullthistle]

They should come back but you should prune off the dead branches this fall. Scape your thumb nail over the wood. If its green underneath that's good, if brown that's bad.

[biwa]

I'm curious, why is it necessary to wait until fall to prune? I thought that rule only applied to things that go dormant.