Question
Hi Edward,

We have spruce trees and juniper shrubs that are extremely overgrown.  How far up from the ground can I trim around the bottom of the spruce trees and how far in for both the spruce & junipers?  Both were recently trimmed a bit but all that's left is bare branches and some have turned brown in those areas.  Will they produce more needles and look nice again, or is it too late if they've already grown out too far?  We live in Colorado.

Answer
John,
As far as limbing up the spruces, you can prune off as high as you would like to, as long as you are not removing more than 25% of the tree.
The rule of thumb for pruning any evergreen is- Do not cut past the last green on the branch. If you pruned it back severely, there is a good chance that those branches will not regrow.
I would recommend fertilizing them to stimulate growth, if not on the cut branches, but on the sorrounding branches that are still green (if any).
I wish you luck.
Ed Gulliksen