Prune them now and cut them hard. Don't just cut to clear the windows, cut at least 12" below the windows.

Thanks!!

Ditto what dawn ridge said. I wish I had known about DWARF var. pittosporum as my pruning chores would have Been reduced to zero. Nowadays I always research whether there are dwarf versions of plants that interest me, as a way to reduce chores.

Ditto what dawn ridge said. I wish I had known about DWARF var. pittosporum as my pruning chores would have Been reduced to zero. Nowadays I always research whether there are dwarf versions of plants that interest me, as a way to reduce chores.

Ditto what dawn ridge said. I wish I had known about DWARF var. pittosporum as my pruning chores would have Been reduced to zero. Nowadays I always research whether there are dwarf versions of plants that interest me, as a way to reduce chores.

If you are going to do it now, I'd add that you should fertilize the plants at once so they can have energy to push out as much new growth as they can before winter, which we only have 2 months before a freeze, or even less during a real cold year. I've had to cut back an 8 foot tall Pitt hedge down to 6 inches and it came back beautifully. They branch out from the ground that way and make a nice thick hedge all the way up by doing that.
If it was me to do a major cut back, I'd fertilize 3 weeks before cutting and wait till the end of Feb. to cut them back. Better energy for new growth in the spring. Since your location is not mentioned, you could be in south Florida and could do it now, or you could be up here where it is colder and I would do it later. A few years ago it froze up here around Halloween, but this year doesn't look like it will be real bad.

I'm in central FL (Sumter county). I don't mind waiting until feburary if it will give me better results. What do you use for fertilizer? I am very new to all of this.

Your about an hour north of me then. I have experimented with all kinds of fertilizers over the decades and it is hard to find a fertilizer that gets results you can see in a matter of weeks. Most people will tell you this is too hot, but I'm using a granular fertilizer that is a 24-7-8 with minors. The nitrogen in this mix reacts quickly where more than half of it gets used in the first 3 to 4 weeks. You can't find what I use in a store, but the idea on how it works can be related when you look in a store for a product. Or, if you are ever close to Lakeland for any reason, I can get you some of this good stuff.

Ok so I still haven't pruned these and I'm considering just removing them as they are looking kinda diseased and I don't particularly like them anyway. I think I'd like to replace them with some azaleas! How do I remove them？

Best method is to get someone else to do the job. Failing that, dig them out yourself very carefully. You may have irrigation pipes close by that are easy to break with a shovel. You could also drag them out with a rope hooked up to a trailer hitch, but again, you might break pipes that the roots had wrapped around. Do not cut them down and then dig them out. Dig them out intact. It will give you more to grab onto once you get the plants loose.

"Best method is to get someone else to do the job" lol! Love this :) most likely I'll "try" it myself and then have someone else do it :)

Now you see them, now you don't!! My 76yr old dad and I just showed them who's boss!!