I don't offer much in the way of advice here since I'm far from an expert gardener; however, I have done alot of work with junipers and yews, etc. These are pretty tough plants...although suddenly I seem to be losing my spreading juniper grouncover as I just posted. Anyway, I would say you are safe to prune them back fairly liberally almost anytime during the growing season. We have some junipers that are fairly big (4-5 feet) and real bushy that grow in a bank bordering our driveway. And, I've gone after those things with a big pruning shears more times than I care to remember. Like any 'woody' shrub, you'll see the ends of the thicker pruned branches for awhile, and it will defintely be obvious that you cut it back, but it is pretty guickly replaced with new growth. Juniper has always been, in my opinion (up till now at least), almost an indestructible plant. I think it entirely possible that one is apt to get tired of them and want to replace them before they actually start to decline on their own. In my case, however, I am disappointed that our low growing, spreading variety seems to be biting the bullet. Maybe time for a change. Go ahead and prune yours back - chances are by this time next year you'll have even more to cut back!

Good luck,
Keith

Thankyou Keith