Moved into new house, bushes mostly blighted

[mfer]

Hi, I moved into a house and love the landscaping and privateness of the backyard. I'll have to post those pics later as I'm trying to deal with a front yard problem first.

Most of the bushes out front (afternoon sun) have been more or less killed by a drought from last year. There is some green coming out of the stump area. My mother in law says I just need to rip them out as they are done, but I wonder if I just trim them back to the base if they have a chance to make a comeback if watered and fertilized.

Thoughts?

[valley]

Hi, I think your doing it right, they're getting water now and are coming back nicely. I'd give them some time, if I saw no life in the canes, then I'd cut them back. Looks like they grew well and liked it there, with care and feeding later if you see they need it, they should do well.
Do show pictures and keep us up on what you decide about these plants.

Richard