A picture would sure help understand what kind of situation you have, and what advice to give.

Maybe you should use a website where it is easier to post an image...

check out the link

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks, Ken! Let's see if this works.
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This photo actually makes the holly in question look more leafy that it really is. Notice the bare portions of the branches. Where do I prune these? As my original post said, the leaves are in clusters at the ends of the branches.

how about you step back.. and give us a pic of the whole ...

it could just be a sparse first flush.. and it will fill in as summer goes along ...

to my eye.. its planted too close to the house for the potential it shows.. you might be better off getting rid of the prior owners mistake.. and making your own.. lol ...

at least that way.. you will get a plant you know and like.. rather than battling the coward who ran from it, mistake...

ken

As noted: show us the whole plant.

This looks like one of the Blue Holly selections (Ilex x meserveae), albeit a very poorly grown one.

If you want to keep it and "dense it up", that's going to take a few seasons of patient pruning. Hollies will break new growth from older stems, but will only do so satisfactorily if approached prudently and with good growing conditions. I can't make those determinations from a single image, though.

The close-up shot provides the best view of the branches, but I'll post a full shot if I can find some time. Not sure what that will show you, though. My verbal description makes clear that a large percentage of the branches are leaf-less except for the clusters at the ends.

The plant isn't crowding the house, and I don't have the option of removing it, as this is a condominium development. It was a major victory to get the incompetent grounds crew to leave my plantings alone so I can do the pruning myself in the way that best suits each plant. I like hollies; I'd like to make this one happy.

As requested, a photo of the entire plant:

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Now, how about the advice on pruning? Thanks.

Blue hollies can take a fair amount of shearing. Probably best to do hard shearing in the Spring though, since if done too late in the year, the new growth might be too tender to handle winter cold.

At this point you could probably prune selected branches, or maybe only cut back six inches or so. The more shade it gets, the less dense it will be though. Is it getting a lot of shade?

A little shearing each year should shape it up, provided it gets good light and water.

To be blunt: Garbage in = garbage out.

Per dave_in_nova's comments - you can shear this one till the cows come home, and it is still going to be a piece of cr@p.

It even appears that you have a China holly in the foreground along the brick wall. Good luck ever having this landscape planting ever seem like it is a success.

The main reason I asked for an image of the whole plant is to try to determine what species/selection this actually is. That makes a huge difference in providing pruning advice. A selection like 'Dragon Lady' would need a different recommendation entirely than a selection like 'Blue Princess', since they have entirely different growth habits. A closeup of a few leaves doesn't provide the information necessary to separate these selections.

I still think you have a heck of a challenge on your hands, and not one that will be solved with pruning advice. That is obviously a poorly pruned, grown, planted, and managed individual. I'd want to know a lot more before I merely tried to snip/tuck some of the current stems.

I am bothering to comment on your situation because I am a KY resident and a practicing public Landscape Architect in Louisville. It is part of my job to help citizens with problems like this.

A large part of my professional career was as horticulturist and landscape manager in KY prior to earning my degree in Landscape Architecture. There is often much more to consider with plant problems than the superficial conditions, and I'll assist to the extent that I'm allowed to.

Can someone recommend pruning time(s) for Ilex meserveae 'blue princess"? Mine is very vigorous, very dense, but sprouts wild branches pretty constantly throughout growing season. ( I do not shear - don't like that.) But it looks a little silly right now with so many wayward branches poking out & they are near front door. I can wait if i have to - just want to know best times. Thx for your help.

Kelly, the ideal window for pruning would be early spring through late summer.

Other times, you risk triggering response growth to pruning at a very bad time, or possible winter injury to freshly exposed foliage.

Knowing your location would be helpful in narrowing down a pruning question.

Thank you rhizo - I am in NJ zone 6b

I cut all the branches off of my holly trees every three years in the fall (right now) I just did that they grow back it keeps them shaped yours look wild (no offense) they really need to be pruned and rounded up but since yours are like shrubs I dont suggest cutting all the branches off just trim until it is your desired shape and size