Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: How do I prune holly trees?, 1 by growin

growin wrote:
Yes. My mother, who believes in the 3/4 rule of pruning (hack down to near-nothing), would massacre the holly tree on the side of the house. It took a while to recover but would. I wouldn't recommend that at all but they do recover. It would be better to prune the 1/3 rule and selectively prune to promote bushiness. Around here it is considered a weed and self-seeds freely by way of birds. http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/noxio...
Removing the central growing point of a branch promotes bushiness and removing the central leader will also promote a fuller plant. You could do something interesting with shaping it like the image below.