Can you tell me when and how far I can prune my loropetalum hedges? Thank you. Jim

Cleyera Japonica or Ternstroemia gymnanthera? There seems to be some confusion about what to call this plant; if the tips of the leaves are “blunted” or rounded it is ternstroemia. Old habits die hard so, I’ll call yours Cleyera. That’s what I called mine when I cut it back to an eight inch stump about this time four years ago. It has done very good and now I try to keep it at about three feet high.

I believe they are Cleyera (sp?).

It looks like a cleyera which can be severely pruned (like down to 12″) in late winter before new shoots put out. You may be already too late for that. My habit depends on the plant. If it’s a plant I really want, I’d cut out 1/3 to 1/2 of the larger limbs to open up and look for new lower shoots to appear just below the cuts during the late spring and summer. I would then take out the rest of the older limbs in following winters.