Ancient mahonia

[MerylSqueak]

What can I do with this ancient masonic? It's at the front of the house behind a big azalea and is very leggy. It's starts having leaves about a metre up but then blocks the light to our porch.

The birds absolutely love its fruit which is great. We hate it, really, apart from that.

We're wondering whether to cut it to the ground and see what happens or to try and thin it out and live with it for the birds'sake.

You can hard prune.
Hard pruning encourages them to send up vigorous new shoots in spring. It's best to hard prune tender shrubs and evergreens, such as mahonia, in spring, after the last frost.

Or
“PRUNING MAHONIA

• An annual prune will do your Mahonia a power of good. It will keep the plant to a reasonable size prevent crowding the centre.Mahonia can be pruned at any time of the year without damaging the plant. The best time however is soon after they finished flowering, generally March to April time. This will give them the best chance of producing flowers later in the year.
• Mahonia should be allowed to grow to near their full height before pruning, the both look and grow better as tall plants. Do not try to prune them into a mound shape, this is not a natural growth shape for them.
• The following is guide to the height when you should begin to annually prune your Mahonia
• Mahonia x media 'Charity' / 'Lionel Fortescue' - 2.5m / 8ft
• Mahonia x media 'Winter Sun' - 3.5m / 11ft
• Mahonia japonica - 1m / 3ft
• Mahonia aquifolium - 1.5m / 5ft
• Thin out about a quarter of the older stems in the centre of the plant, cutting them back to 15cm / 6in from the central trunk.
• Prune back any of the outer stems to keep the plant to a manageable size.”

https://www.gardenfocused.co.uk/shrub/mahonia.php#:~:text=Do%20not%20try%20to%20prune,natural%20growth%20shape%20for%20them.&text=Thin%20out%20about%20a%20quarter,plant%20to%20a%20manageable%20size.

Thank you.

I think I will hard prune.

At a guess, yours is Mahonia aquifolium. It’s not Mahonia x media.

I cut the mahonia some idiot planted beside out front path back really severely, I keep it at about three feet and as a column. I first cut it back hoping it might die, but no….it still flowers ( a bit) and has even self seeded ( they have been dealt with) . The new foliage is not unattractive although it is still a thorny bastard.

Why do people plant thorny things next to a path? Do they hate visitors?

Thorny things next to paths and under windows are great for deterring unwanted nocturnal visitors.