Identifying shrubs so I may decide how to prune

[shattered00]

I am trying to identify these shrubs that are planted in the front yard of a house I just bought. They are quite tall and I wish to cut them down to maybe 3-4 feet (they are currently at about 7-8 feet) but I don't want them to die. Any help in identifying them and pruning suggestions? It is March in Texas if that helps regarding whether I can cut all the branches/leaves off. Thank you for any assistance.

[rainbowgardener]

I would have thought the middle one was rhododendron, but I don't think they grow in TX. So maybe you have something else that looks like it. At any rate, I think it has flower buds on it, so you don't want to prune it until after it blooms.

[catgrass]

1st one-maybe Pittosporum. 2nd looks like oleander, but not sure. 3rd pic? Is that azaleas blooming? If so, prune after they bloom. I think you would be safe pruning them all down drastically, but they won't look too good for a year or so.

[rainbowgardener]

Oleander is a good guess. I haven't lived where oleander grows for many years, so I forgot about it. What I said is still true, don't prune it until after it blooms.

[imafan26]

Most plants are not pruned or replanted until after they have bloomed. A rule of thumb for most things is to cut out any diseased or dead wood and crossing branches. If you are pruning a hedge and you don't want bare legs, you should taper the shape so that the top is narrower than the bottom.
http://www.finegardening.com/trimming-hedge

Those shrubs are quite over grown. I would not try to prune off more than a third of the shrub or even less. Most shrubs have no leaves at all on the inside of the plant. I would just take out what is obviously dead, disseased and crossing. Remove the straggler branches and then do some reduction pruning by only taking off a couple of inches at a time. You can always come back and cut more off, but if you take off too much it will take a long time to fix it. Every couple of weeks you can reduce a little more. Pruning and feeding after will tell you how fast the plant grows. The ones that start sprouting new leaves will quickly rejuvenate and can take a little more pruning, the ones that don't grow as fast you have to go slower.