they reek of the 60's rip them out!!!

you could start by severely cutting back the back ones by the door, and the ones in front of them slightly less so to screen them while they get themselves together.

but if you are up for a redo, i'm good with it. what direction is this facing, and what region are you located in?

this is where burly guy with chains to drag them out of the ground come in.

Since you don't like them at all, take them out. It's a lot of work to dig the roots up, so consider hiring a teenager (or a pro) to do much of the work. A pro with a stump grinder would make very fast work of the removal.

If you have second thoughts, take a clipping of each shrub to the local nursery to ask about cutting them way back (knee high or up to where your siding starts). Some shrubs respond well to drastic cut back, others will simply die.

Please post again when you are ready with an update.

Those are old, overgrown & should be removed. Not an easy job, probably best to have it done by a landscape service or nursery that provides re landscaping.

Yes they are old and overgrown for the space. Figure out what they are. Many shrubs grow slowly and if you take them down nearly to the ground will come back but won't shoot up. Privet - take out as they shoot up many feet each year. Yew or boxwood or a good number of others - take down IF the placement of shrub pleases you. If you decide to keep any then don't shear them once they grow out, cut long stems inside the bush so they look more natural and won't out grow the space this time. If you cut back then you will have a nice big plant next year that cost you nothing. A nice green blob is a good thing whether you like to garden or not. It just needs to be the right size and shape for the area.

I'd try it. You can always take them out later. I'd remove the taller ones between steps and house as they are too close to the house though.

My house came with a lot of overgrown shrubs. When we dug in we found shrubs hidden behind other shrubs! Many were removed as soon as we moved in as I wanted a garden in their place. Tall bushes were trimmed into trees. Junipers were cloud pruned next to the door and at the curb to reduce bulk - was fun and looked good too. All are now gone but were useful for many years. Cloud pruned junipers next to door were a fail because trunk was too thick, arborized shrubs kept sprouting from the base, curb cloud pruned juniper was replaced by a seedling oak but they added age to the landscape and they didn't cost a thing!

I think it's a lost cause, take them out.

If they are yews like they appear to be I feel your frustration. If you choose to remove them, be warned their root systems are prolific. Ours were growing into our utilities, and we had to be careful not to damage the foundation when pulling them out.

Something softer like a hydrangea would look nice to fill the gap between them and the other bushes on the side.

Like the idea about the hydrangea, probably without the shrubs though. I have actually three in my back yard that I could transplant to the front.

I'm really nervous about removing them and finding unpleasant surprises under them

They look like yews. They are visually overwheming your house. I'd vote for getting rid of them. If not, hack back to 1/3 of what they are now and wait for them to recover.

We transplanted some yews. They were torn out pretty roughly by the generator installation people (whose goal was remove, not to transplant). Two are doing fine, the third is iffy.

Your sweet house is being hi-jacked by the shrubs. You won't be happy until they are gone and neither will the house. It took me two years to straighten out a bed that had been "mulched" with white rock and had big ugly shrubs in it. I used my trusty Toyota and a length of chain to pull them out. They never grew back and it became a lovely day lily bed. Lots of work and time consuming, but the end result worth it.

Ditto. The "general rule" is landscape plants life span is 20 years. I suspect yours are much older. Yep...it's time to remove the old shrubs and update your landscape. I promise you, you'll be so happy you did. When you update the landscaping, the love of the inside of your home seeps into the outside and you'll love driving up to it!

It was said that the ones surrounding the door are too much, and probably, to me, the ones in front of those. But what about the 1 or 2 at house's corner[s]? Does it have turning leaves?! maybe could keep...

I wondered the same thing. What are the outer shrubs?

How would they look in another part of your yard. If they'd look nice, then have a landscaper remove them and put them there. They are obtrusive in their current location.

I'm aware that it could take many hours, even days of work, what I'm fine with. I'm pretty handy and have many tools that I could use, But in reality, would I be able to remove them by myself?

I'm already thinking what should I put in my new space! Thank you all For the great ideas and courage, I'm so ready to start.

You can cut them down yourself fairly easily, but suggest you hire someone with a stump grinder to finish the job. Good luck!

I think most of us agree....Definitely yank them out. We had bushes about this big and they really aren't very hard to dig out roots and all. Ours were holly and boxwood In fact I did mine without any "man" power. The front of your house is cute and it is being blocked by these big balls of ugliness!

If you want to do it yourself the easiest way to go is to cut them down first. Then you can proceed in 2 following ways: rent a stump grinder from the tool rental shop and grind them down (this will leave the roots in the ground) but you can still plant small plants there. Or dig around them by hand with a shovel and cut the big roots out as you free them up from soil. Don't do it with the chain and a car – you'll wreck your steps.