e. if you cut out one in three of those stems to within 6 inches of the ground
Having a look at it this morning, and what I think will be tricky is dealing with the front ones without ending up with an aethticaly worse situation than now - ie displaying more bare branches.
Not sure if this photo conveys it.
I'm wondering about taking some of the front ones down to ~4ft where new growth is showing, then following your advice on the other bits.
You can do it in stages. What you will be surprised about is how quickly the new growth comes up. So yeah perhaps prune one in 5 or 6 this year and then the same again next year.
Having a look at it this morning, and what I think will be tricky is dealing with the front ones without ending up with an aethticaly worse situation than now - ie displaying more bare branches.
Not sure if this photo conveys it.
I'm wondering about taking some of the front ones down to ~4ft where new growth is showing, then following your advice on the other bits.