if you want to know how plants respond in your area.. you have to tell us where you are.. big city name...

go ahead and cut them back.. and see what happens.. the worse that can happen is you dont like the result.. and work on removing them ...

i really dont know how to predict otherwise.. how it will all work out for you ...

in my ground freeze MI ... it might take more than a couple years for them to recover from a 50% hard cutting back ... so i probably wouldnt do it.. i would just remove ...

in warmer climes.. with near year around growth... the recovery will happen sooner.. so you would have more flexibility ...

they are conifers.. which are trees... though commonly called shrubs.. but trees dont stop growing at some magical height.. most size estimates are at 10 years.. and at 20.. they will be twice as big ...

if you do remove.. and think about replacing.. make sure you find better plants to fit the space... perhaps someone will roll thru who can ID your plant.. and you can take the latin name to look at how big those plants can get after the years .. like this... scroll down..

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=dwarf+chinese+juniper&iax=images&ia=images

and understand the word dwarf.. simple means its smaller than the straight species... it does NOT mean it stays small.. given enough years... as you are learning right now...

good luck

ken

Do not cut deeper than where there is green on a conifer. It will NOT grow back.

"Dwarf" with respect to conifers only applies to rate of growth. It has nothing to do with mature size. Or in the case of groundcover type junipers (which, btw, are not considered "trees" under any definition!!) height. Their size is measured by spread.

They can be pruned successfully and without a noticeably "pruned" appearance but you need to start before they get too wide. As noted, shearing or heavy pruning that exposes bare wood will not regrow.

Juniper virginiana is not a tree?

Does Juniperus virginiana come in a groundcover form? Pls reread my post.

Thanks for the replies. I am in northern New Jersey. My thought was that if I cut them back significantly the new growth would eventually hang down and cover the dead parts.

Try cutting the underneath growth, that is, lift up the upper parts, reach in under and cut the under stems. I'm not explaining this very well, but it worked for me for years.

This, seems like a viable way to keep low junipers looking good.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pruning+creeping+juniper

sorry then. Too little too late, so it appears.

One idea is, you could get in there and see if some of the older plants could be removed, and the newer plants that have rooted along the branches be left, to replenish the area again.

Otherwise remove them completely and find something better suited for along a walkway that doesn't require so much maintenance.