Also I took my chances, cut a little branch off another bush, stuck it in the ground, and lo and behold if it isn't growing. It's all leafed out and looking very happy. So are the suckers that I took off the big bushes. That made my day.
So now I'm looking at these old bushes and wondering about pruning. Right now I have three distinct things happening. Some of the branches have new growth and new leaves (some more than others). Some branches just have new growth (red) but they have no leaves, just thorns. They have old hips still on them though, so I'm pretty sure they bloomed last year. And then there are the rest of the branches that don't seem to be doing much of anything, just sitting there looking kind of old and brown.
When should I prune them, and which parts should I cut? If I were planning to stay here, I'd take my chances with lopping them off down by the ground and letting them regrow, but we've just put the house on the market so I don't want to do anything quite that drastic...