Pruning Bushes

I have a few bushes that I'd like to prune and would like some suggestions on the best way to do it. I bought two very small (approx. 1 ft tall) mock oranges that have surprised me by blooming this year. They do have a wonderful fragrance! However, the branches do look like crisscrossed sticks. Is there a way I can prune them to encourage a fuller, bushier appearance? Also, I have a dwarf lilac (Josee)...any suggestions on pruning it so it has a fuller appearance? It does throw out the occasional bloom through the summer so I'd like to avoid cutting those off. Rose of Sharon...we found essentially sticks in the ground that the deer had been chewing on (and I thought they were suppose to be deer resistant) and moved them to see if they would survive. Well, survive they have (white w/ red eye blooms)! They're still growing and filling in. I'd like to encourage a more bushy appearance verses a tree-type form. I'm fairly new to gardening and any advice you can give me on pruning these bushes would be greatly appreciated!

By "mock orange" do you mean Philadelphus? Most shrubs need a minimum only of pruning. Ive noticed driving around town here that many of the ladies who pay gardeners have had their shrubs whacked down to within 1 ft of the ground. Unless there is some reason you want to contain the size of the bush, its best to stay within its natural shape. The shrub should be planted in the first place to give it enough room to grow naturally, usually not directly against a building.

To encourage blooming you need to know if the shrub blooms on new or old wood. In most cases you want to prune as soon as shrub has finished flowering, not before flowering, as in the case of the local gardeners. You will want to go down from the tip of the branch and find the nearest outside facing bud and cut just above it. That bud will become a new branch. Cut out any cross-crossing branches.

The best way to encourage bushiness, is to study the growth of the bush. Look for the lateral growth buds. Look at the shoots that are growing straight up with no lateral growth. Those may need to be cut down to the base of the plant. Try to encourage "outward" branching by selecting outward facing buds. If you just whack all of the branches off at the same level, with no respect to the growth habits of the plant, you probably will not get a desirable effect.

Spring pruning should be minimal, because you do not want to stress the plant facing a hot summer. If you need to reshape the bush, fall and winter pruning when the plant is dormant is more likely to be tolerated by the plant. On the other hand, if the plant is not fully dormant, and you prune you can be encouraging new growth which could be frost damaged.

I have made this sound much more complicated than it is. Just look at the growth buds and follow the natural form of the plant. Prune after flowering, with a light hand.

I have so many shrubs, bushes, trees, etc. I hire a professional to come in a couple times a year to do the job for me. Not only is it hard for me to prune due to my age, I have no way of disposing of the limbs.

Yes, the mock oranges are Philadelphus 'Innocence.' It should then be pruned after flowering so I don't interfer with next year's buds? Thanks for the pointers!