If I cut them back - half the height - will they be ok?

===>>> hard to tell.. but they look like arbs ...

yes they will be OK.. but they will look HORRIBLE ...

get rid of them ...

the laylands are not favored by anyone in the conifer forum.. but you knock yourself out ... i dont do them. so i dont have all the negatives off hand ...

removal will be hard work.. but i suspect you will want to do it next year.. if you just trim them back now .... because you probably will not like the look ...

here is the easy answer ... trim it back... and look a what is left.. and consider looking at that for 3 to 5 years.. while it fills back in .. at that point you may see the wisdom of going the rest of the way

ken

They look like they are being pushed open by snow, in which case the way to tidy them up is to tie them together with something that will not cut into the bark. Maybe put sections of old rubber hose between the tie and the stem.

If you cut them in half you will spoil them. Might as well cut them all the way down if you are going to try cutting them in half.

I'll add that you might want to look into how quickly Leyland Cypress grows...and how BIG they get.