regrowth of barberry
 

Our home was built about 15 yrs. ago. THe builder planted barberry in
front of the foundation and azeleas in front of these. During the years
these have grown to look overcrowded and trimming no longer helps much.
One of the azeleas has died so I thought we could just take the
remaining ones out and leave the barberry. But, of course, the
barberries have no green on the lower portion of the shrub (shurb is
about 4' high).
Can we either 1) cut them down to about 2 feet and would the barberries
regrow to their current 4'; or, 2) just leave them and would new growth
of leaves grow on the lower portion of the shrub? I don't believe the
azeleas would fill in enough to get close enough to the foundation to
look correct. Therefore, they must be the ones to go. We live in zone 7
Thanks, Liz