Berberis - messy and needs tidying

We have just moved and I am trying to get to grips with the garden we have acquired. I'm also a complete novice gardener.

There is small berberis in the back garden, its looking very tired - dead looking branches underneath and many of the leaves have fallen (I have another in the front garden which looks much healthier).

From everything I have read it seems I need to wait for spring to cut it back/prune it. Would it suffer from a complete cut back at this time of year and let it revitalise itself over the next couple. I don't want to lose it but I am working on the borders where it sits and I can't get to where I need to without some cutting. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Many Berberis look tired at this time of year as they drop all or most of their leaves.

In my experience berberis are quite hard to kill and respond well to chopping back. I would see no problem in cutting hard back now then feeding and mulching in spring to encourage lots of new growth

 

If you want to know if the branches are dead scratch the bark, but watch those thorns. If its brown underneath its dead and might as well be cut out. If its green then its alive and should sprout again. Cutting back can reinvigorate but if there is a lot of dead wood then why has it died off, what conditions caused that? It could be that it is too close to a hedge and being dried out. Sometimes plants can get worn out and it is better to just scrap and renew woth something else