Mostly, it is what it is. When we prune into "old wood" on conifers (with just a handful of exceptions) we will not see new buds sprouting back in that far. So the usual recommendation is to remove whole branches only. Maybe this plant is worse on the sides we can't see but I don't see any dead stuff on this side. If, on the back side, there are whole branches that are dead or mostly dead, take your loppers and remove the entire branches. Leave no stubs-they'll be there forever.

I hope what I've written here makes sense. You can't make this large plant much smaller. And you can't cut partially back on any one branch. It won't re-green.

That's what I was afraid of, Tom.

Thank you so much for your quick reply and helpful information!

Susie

I mean, you could shear it. But that's only going to reduce its size a wee bit, and worse, to keep it looking "good", you would then have to continue shearing it. I wouldn't go there.

May as well just clip out any actual dead stuff and leave it at that.

Yeah , good idea. . . . I'll try to get working on it again tomorrow. Owner and her husband disagree on what they want as the final outcome. It's gonna be interesting.

But at least I can look like I have a little intelligence on the subject!