I'm afraid that is their growth habit. They may collapse a bit when the leaves grow larger and age, but they are not the sort of shrub that forms a dense barrier, in my opinion. The base seldom form a dense cover.
I feel like if the base had lots of side branches it would have leaves on the places I want. If nobody has ever done this before I may just be the test subject and cut them all down to the ground and prune off all new branches and see where it gets me.
I have just moved into a new home and it is surrounded by dense rhododendron hedging, probably 6' plus wide and down to the ground, so it can be done. Looking around this area, there are lots of thick rhodo hedges that are very well established. My problem is - with all the nice new shoots, and with birds probably still nesting, how and when should I prune?
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