Cutting back honeysuckle

Can any one advise how far I can cut this back??

it’s obviously been there a while but it needs lopping back to put in a new fence behind it, could it be cut back to the thick bare stems at the bottom or do I need to cut back to the first bit of greenery?

thanks all!

 

I have cut them back very hard and generally they have recovered, but I have lost a couple. If you have to replace the fence you could cut back carefully, just sufficient to replace fence. Or you could hard back replace the fence, see if the honeysuckle recovers. If you lose the honeysuckle you can easily replace it and it will soon cover the fence again.

 

Thank you!