Pruning the macrophyllas are a real pain, but here goes, come Feb. you want to go to the largest side buds on green stems put out his year by the shrub and you cut just above those two swelling leaf buds, these leaf buds will put out new growth and bear flowers, you do not want to prune any other time you might be promoting leafy growth, if the shrub is old, you want to get into the center of the plant and remove some of the brown woody looking growth right to the ground, don't worry if you do it wrong one year, observe where the flowers are borne and you will be fine after that.
This spring the leaves on my 3 year-old white Teller started to brown from the tips and also were being eaten. I only found one small white grub and sprayed the plant with a 'bug gun'. After a good watering, new larger leaves began to grow at the same time as the large flowers. Sadly though, the blooms were hidden by the foilage. I am a novice gardener and want to know if I can cut back the leaf stems and hope the same thing doesn't happen next year. Does anyone have any tips? Thanks