Garden privet

Garden privet: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Semi-evergreen shrub of 2–4 m, usually grown as a clipped hedge.

Leaf

Opposite, oval, 3–6 cm, untoothed and glossy; stays on the shrub in mild winters.

Bark

Greyish-brown and smooth.

Flower

White, heavily scented panicles in July.

Fruit

Glossy black berries, poisonous.

Difference from wild privet

Wild privet has narrower leaves that drop in winter.

Difference from box

Box has much smaller leaves.

Flowering: June–July · Pruning: May–June and August–September

Identify by feature: Evergreen leaves · Black berries

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Wild privet Ligustrum vulgare: narrower leaves that drop in winter. Difference from wild privet
• Box Buxus sempervirens: much smaller leaves. Difference from box

Why grow it?

• Grows fast: a dense hedge within a few years.
• Tolerates hard pruning, city air and almost any soil, in sun or shade.
• Keeps its leaves in mild winters, and is cheap to buy bare-root.
• If you let it flower, the panicles attract lots of insects; the berries are for the birds.

Garden privet: where does it grow best?

• Sun to shade; in sun the hedge grows densest.
• Almost any soil, from sand to clay, as long as it isn’t waterlogged for long.
• As a free-growing shrub, allow 3 m width; as a hedge, keep it 50–80 cm wide.
• Also suitable for towns, along the street and in windy spots.

Light

Sun to shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

4 m tall, 3 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Wild privet: Mixed into the same hedge: the native species brings more flowers and berries for wildlife.
• Hornbeam: A mixed hedge of privet and hornbeam stays partly green and partly covered in brown leaves in winter.
• Holly: Evergreen holly among the privet keeps the hedge closed, even in severe winters.
• Lesser periwinkle: An evergreen ground cover for the shady base of the hedge.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Tolerates shade and suits planting under large trees such as: ginkgo, box elder, ash, honey locust, field maple, silver maple

Garden privet: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant bare-root from November to March; container plants can go in almost all year round, except in frost or drought.
2. Allow 3–4 plants per metre in a single row, or 5 per metre in a staggered double row for an extra-dense hedge.
3. Dig a trench one spade deep, loosen the bottom and plant at the same depth as before.
4. After planting, cut all shoots back by half to two thirds: the hedge will then branch from the base.
5. Water in dry spells during the first year.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year; rarely needed after that.

Feeding

A little compost in spring; a hedge that is clipped often will benefit.

Building a young hedge

For the first few years, clip two to three times a year and let the hedge gain only 10–20 cm each time: it will stay dense. Only once it has filled out do you let it grow to its final height.

Shape

Keep the top slightly narrower than the base (a gentle trapezium): the bottom then gets light too and won’t go bare.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to cut a new privet hedge back hard after planting: it costs you a year in height, but you get a hedge that is dense right down to the ground.

Garden privet: when to prune it?

Pruning months: May–June and August–September.

When: Two to three times a year, from May to September.

How:

• Clip an established hedge with hedge trimmers just above the previous cut, and stretch a line for a straight top.
• An old, bare hedge can be cut back to 30 cm above the ground in spring; it will grow back dense.
• If you want flowers and berries, leave part of the hedge or a single shrub unclipped.

Caution: Before clipping, check that no birds are nesting in the hedge (mid-March to mid-August).

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Hardwood cuttings

In winter, push 20–25 cm lengths of one-year-old shoots two thirds of the way into the ground; privet roots very easily.

Semi-ripe cuttings

Semi-ripe cuttings root readily in July–August under glass or plastic.

Garden privet: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Hardy; in severe winters it loses some of its leaves, but the hedge grows back in spring.
• Don’t clip after September: the new growth then hardens off before the frost.

Diseases and pests

• Bare base: A hedge that is wider at the top than at the bottom goes bare at the base. Clip it to a trapezium shape, or cut an old hedge back.
• Honey fungus: Privet is susceptible to honey fungus: plants die one by one, with white fungal sheets under the bark and honey-coloured toadstools at the base in autumn. Dig out affected plants with as many roots as possible and fill the gap with a less susceptible species.
• Aphids and thrips: Curled leaves or silvery-grey mottling in summer; usually harmless and gone after the next clip.

Through the year

• January: Plant bare-root in frost-free weather.
• March: Last month for bare-root planting; cut back an old, bare hedge before the nesting season.
• May: First clip, late May; check for nests first.
• June: Clip if you didn’t manage in May.
• July: Free-growing shrubs flower: lots of insects on the panicles.
• August: Second clip, from late August.
• September: Last clip; no more clipping after this.
• November: Planting and taking hardwood cuttings.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Fast, semi-evergreen hedge that tolerates hard pruning.

For wildlife

Flowers for insects, berries for birds.

Caution: The berries are poisonous.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Hoverflies

Open flowers for hoverflies; many of their larvae eat aphids.

Butterflies

Nectar for butterflies.

Did you know?

• One of the most widely planted hedges: tolerates hard pruning and city air.
• Golden privet (‘Aureum’) is a form with yellow-edged leaves, often seen in older gardens.
• Americans call it California privet, but it actually comes from Japan and Korea.
• In English and French it is called California privet, but it originally comes from Japan and Korea.
• The caterpillars of the privet hawk-moth, a large moth, feed on privet: plump green caterpillars with slanting purple and white stripes and a small ‘horn’ at the rear.