Question
Hello Gill,
Thanks for reading my question.  I just bought a house, am a beginner gardener and find it immensely enjoyable!

I have 2 large holly bushes (prob male & female).  I can see they are both in dire need of pruning as there as the growth under the bushes are tangled and jammed together.  Plus a couple seasons of dead leaves were blown under there.  One of the bushes has a very uncitely bald spot, with just a bunch of dead branches or branches refusing to fill out.  I am wondering how I prune or encourage growth in that one area?

My 2nd question is related but to azaleas.  I have azalea bushes that are unkept and in need of pruning and have grown misshapen, have dead branches on one side and only flower on the other.  How do I prune to encourage more even but natural growth?

Thank you very much for your responses.

Answer
Hello Michelle

It sounds as if both these shrubs have had another plant growing close to them, blocking out the light!

Holly - this usually regrows readily when its pruned.  First, cut off all the dead branches flush with the trunk.  
  
Next, something that will sound very odd to you - those branches with limited growth - cut them back by about one third.  Hopefully this action will stimulate new growth this year.

Azaleas - treat these just like the holly. Although they will not regrow as readily as the holly, they may recover in time.  Meanwhile bear in mind that in the wild Azaleas, indeed most plants, don't grow in neat shapes!!  

I have a rhododendron that grows at all sorts of odd angles - and, in flower or out, it looks just wonderful every year!

Good luck with your plants.

Gill