How to prune trees and fix sight lines to the house

[Patrick G]

Hi there!

I just recently moved into a new home and would love to get these evergreens off the house a bit - they are a bit overgrown and are blocking the brick front of our home. Not sure the best way to prune them to allow for better visibility of the house. They've filled out into the bushes between them so i don't to leave awkward gaps at the bottom. Also thinking that they seem a little sparse in the middle and won't look niced if pruned back. I appreciate any help - I'm new to this!

 

[Chuck]

This looks like a case of wrong tree variety and/or planted in the wrong place. If I a not mistaken those are some variety of conifer tree. I can't tell for sure because the picture was taken at a distance but conifer trees are not normally pruned at all except to remove any dead wood. It ruins their shape and symmetry.

 

[Patrick G]

I wondered if that was the case. Does that essentially mean I have to either leave them as is or remove them entirely? Seems like the shape is nice as they are, but just too large.

a couple closer photos attached for reference. Thanks!!

 

[DirtMechanic]

They looked good when small. And they grow relatively slow. Pruning would take years to recover, so if you prune do a little over time. Somewhere out there on the net is the idea of 1\3, 1\3, 1\3 over a 3 year period.

 

[Chuck]

I wondered if that was the case. Does that essentially mean I have to either leave them as is or remove them entirely? Seems like the shape is nice as they are, but just too large.

a couple closer photos attached for reference. Thanks!!

Probably some type of cedar. When pruned that area never grows back. And it appears these trees are not at full height yet or width either. It appears that there are 5 trees. You could remove the worst looking one and keep one or two of the best shaped ones. From what I can see at least two of them are really nice specimens and it would be a shame to lose them.