Pruning a Daphne & Forcing growth

Voluntown, CT

I have a fairly large variegated Daphne × burkwoodii 4'wide x 3'tall. It sprawls out from the center rather horizontally, then grows upward, leaving the center rather sparce.
1. How far back can I prune this daphne without destroying it?
2. Is there a way to force growth from the center where the larger limbs grow out horizontally?
3. Occasionally, an unvariegated sprout appears. Is this common?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I love the leave and wonderful flowers on this shrub.

Dublin, CA(Zone 9a)

I can't help you too much on the pruning, although I think if you prune it now you will risk losing your flowers next year. Many variegated plants will occasionally put out non-variegated branches--I would prune those out right away because the all-green branches will tend to be more vigorous than the variegated branches, so if you let them go they can eventually take over the plant.

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