Blob one looks like an Abelia.

Thanks both for the replies!

If I google "snowball bush" it says the Latin name is "Viburnum opulus", and the leaves in the pictures are more maple shaped, so that one doesn't seem to be a match...unless I am looking at the wrong snowball bush? Also, these bushes are all over the place in my neighbourhood and none of them has any snowballs.

Looking up abelias, the pictures seem to fit, but I read that the bloom time is May-September, and I haven't seen any sign of flowers on these bushes.

Abelia has flower buds present, second one is a Bodnant viburnum. Blob aspect is probably due to pruning, viburnum looks like it has enough room - it and the one(s) of the same kind next to it should be allowed to grow together - but the abelia grows much bigger than it is now.

Snowball bush is related to your picture #2. It is definately a viburnum, but if you have a picture of it’s blossoms, it would be much easier to identify it, because there are a few viburnum varieties outthere.

The missing flowers make sense now! The abelia's are coming, and the viburnum must have bloomed before I moved here. Got it, thanks all!

@Embothrium, could you share some pruning advice? Some of these bushes are mine to prune, and I was actually considering removing a few due to the fact that there are so many, and they seem to be much too big and vigorous for their spots. Should I proceed with that plan, if I *don't* want a wall of green where the multiple viburnums should grow together?

I am not sure about the abelia either...the one in my photo has another abelia growing very scraggly behind it, I guess due to lack of light. I could maybe remove the front bush, which is already eating its neighbours (and intruding on the pathway), and hope that the back bush fills in?

There are a few possible goals here and I'm not sure which to prioritize:
1) Avoid destroying healthy, mature shrubs
2) Preserve light, space, and visibility by pruning
3) Avoid fighting nature by trying to "bonsai" them

Remove or relocate the ones you don't want and let the others develop naturally. Probably the abelias are Abelia x grandiflora, if there isn't room for a 1.5 to 3 m shrub where these are then they should be replaced with something smaller growing. (Bodnant viburnum is capable of growing over 3 m tall).