Meg, I haven't the pictorial you seek, but a couple comments: Renewal pruning is the practice of taking out the oldest, thickest "canes" or stems on a multi-stemmed shrub. this would not be appropriate on things like Azaleas. They are in essence tiny little one-stemmed trees. I know little about Camelias or for that matter, Burford hollies, so I will let others guide you there, but for sure you don't want to do renewal pruning on any plant that exits the ground as a single stem.

Target pruning cuts, which simply means cutting back to a lateral branch/branchlet, is what i suspect you want to do on those others. And you're right-you will sacrifice some blooms this year, but it's still well worth doing.

Thanks! So a different approach on the azaleas, huh?

I also forgot to mention we are in zone 7. It's pretty chilly at night (upper 30s) and is getting to near 60 during the day. From what I hear that's the ideal time. Early spring blooms are already happening in the other parts of the yard (forsythia, etc),

any chance at pix?

i am not sure rejuvenation pruning is the proper term for is needed with this project ...

ken

there is a good chance ... that your best method is total removal ... and starting over ...

you can always try other things first ... but just keep this option in mind ...

ken

Photos below. First shows holly and azalea. Second shows two azaleas, a camellia, and a holly.

And I'd like to try and keep these if at all possible, since my late grandpa planted them.

It's almost as if these all were sheared in the past. Note how ball-like they all look. Maybe-and I'm gonna run and duck for cover right after I type this-the best bet would be to shear them. Since one of your main goals is to keep these plants, you might just do what has been done. Note-shearing-style pruning is never appropriate, except for those plants where you are actively trying to turn them into well, sheared hedges. That is, 90% of the "shrub pruning" you've probably ever seen is utterly improper, none of which helps you in the least.

Any experts on pruning hollies here? Azaleas? I don't want to stick my neck out onto a chopping block with which I'm not familiar. I'm still thinking otherwise that regular target pruning-the kind of thing you'd do with a hand pruner and not a hedge shears, would be correct for the plants.

I can recognise the holly but I don't see anything that looks much like the azaleas or camellias I am familiar with. It may be the distance of the pictures or the way they have been sheared to all look the same but are the ids definite?

They are definitely azaleas -- but the bigger evergreen variety. They bloom magenta pink every april. And I am sure they one with the reaching shoots coming off the top are camellias -- my grandmother adored camellias and they also bloomed briefly during a warm spell we had in November---huge white blooms with yellow centers.

I'm attaching some photos: 1) closeup of azalea, 2) closeup of camellia, 3) trunk of azalea, 4) trunk of camellia

Yep, your ids are spot on. Just goes to show how clipping everything into a ball robs shrubs of their individuality. From a distance they all look the same. But if the uniform look is what you're after you could just keep clipping rather than pruning as wisconsitom outlined above.

To get them below the windows you will have to whack them down much lower than they are now. Do this right after they bloom in spring. (Do the camellias at the same time, instead of after they bloom in fall or winter).

They will then all look bald on top but if you are going to lower them much you are stuck with that. And you will have to cut them well below the windows to not have them back up in front of the windows in a couple years. And you will have to keep beating them back down over and over, indefinitely - replacing them with dwarf shrubs would certainly be a way to put a stop to this.

The ones not in front of the windows, out in the yard I don't see why they can't be left to just grow naturally.

.......agree with this^...plus, you could begin to "normalize" their shape and appearance via just using your hand pruners for any touch-up pruning. Just clip back those branches/branchlets which deviate too far (for your tastes) from the main body of the plant, thereby gradually getting them out of their sheared condition. This all based on my earlier suggestion that all of these look like they've been sheared in the past. It reminds me of how some nurseries/garden centers think the public wants their young pines or spruce to have an unnaturally conical shape and therefor prune these plants which in the main never need pruning. What I'm saying is, it takes a few years of allowing them to grow in their natural fashion to get them out of this look. but it can be done. As for those under the windows, Embo's exactly right-you will tussle with them forever...unless you don't mind a big shrub blocking your windows! I've got a dwarf lilac which I didn't plant but which ended up right in front of one of my mother's windows. Since I refuse to take the hedge shears to it, what I'm left with is target pruning via hand pruners, but it takes perhaps a thousand individual little cuts to prune this one dumb shrub which really shouldn't even be there. Mom loves her lilacs though, so for now.........