Given this winter, it's hard to tell. It's probably OK to do it now, but I'd be tempted to wait a few weeks until the beginning of March. Make sure you cut them back far enough that there is enough room for new growth between the cutback size and the desired size. They can handle *very* hard pruning, so long as there is something above ground.

WHEN TO GO????? when your last teenager/young adult moves out of the house.. and leaves you the job of trimming them once or twice a year .. lol GET RID OF THEM .. if they are no longer pleasing to you.. and then plant something that does not require maintenance ... how close to the foundation are they ... if they are within a foot or two.. just cut them to ground level.. and drip some roundup/stump killer on the stump .. not much is needed ... and then enlarge the bed away from the house.. and plant something else, further from the house ... say 4 feet out ... so that the replacement has space to grow out into something pleasing.. without you having to go out there with a machete every year .... as to the above.. yes you can cut it severely ... but i dont like to do that.. if its right out front of the house ... you have to be willing to be very patient in watching it regenerate for a year or two... and trimming it during that time.. to shape it back into a form that is pleasing... perhaps a project for the back 40 acres .. but not something you will want out in front of the house ... besides the fact.. that you will be back to trimming it once or twice a year thereafter ... it never failed to amaze me.. how dad hit the limit and made me come back and rip out all the overly mature foundation plants.. the season after i finally moved out.. lol ... ken

Update! I walked out in the yard and found a ripe caper berry AKA seed pod. It was split open and from what I could tell, there were 5 fresh seeds. I did my research, found one method of growing them that I liked, and yesterday I planted them after they had been in the fridge for 2 weeks. I was surprised to find there were about 10 seeds, so since i had prepared 6 sleeves, some sleeves got 2 seeds. The goal here is 6 plants. One plant is NOT enough for a jar of capers! If 2 sprout in one sleeve, I will sacrifice one by cutting it off. I got my planting sleeves on Amazon. They disintegrate in the soil so the roots will grow out of them and not be disturbed during planting. Evidently Capers do NOT like their roots disturbed! Here is the open pod I found: And the planting process. I used one of those containers mushrooms come in at the grocery store. My planting medium is a sterile damp mix of perlite and vermiculite also purchased at Amazon. Seeds are in there, and misted and covered with plastic wrap. I'll update again if any sprout!

I don't have enough info to decide whether it needs to be removed: space available, distance from buildings, utilities, sidewalks, etc, etc, but I typically don't have trees removed until they seem likely to soon cause an issue. However, I live in a rural area, and considerations of cost of removal, other issues such as location of hazards such as overhead wires, buildings, other trees, etc. may influence your decision and are probably different in your more populated area.