I have some seriously overgrown (juniper or cedar, not sure) shrubs near my front walk that will be deformed and in the way if we actually get heavy snow this winter. Will it harm them to cut them back at this time of year? Should I just tie them? I had a tough health year and couldn’t trim shrubs and trees during the long run of good weather we had.
It would be safe to prune away up to 1/3 of the foliage now. If they are upright and the snow is damaging them, you could also bundle the stems together to prevent that. Just be sure to cut them open again in spring as soon as the danger of heavy snow has passed.