Wild privet

Wild privet: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Shrub of 2–4 m with slender, upright branches.

Leaf

Opposite, lance-shaped, 3–6 cm, untoothed; drops during the course of the winter.

Bark

Grey and smooth.

Flower

White, strongly scented panicles in June–July.

Fruit

Glossy black berries that last all winter; poisonous.

Difference from garden privet

Garden privet has broader, oval leaves that stay on longer.

Flowering: June–July · Pruning: May–June, August–September and November–March

Identify by feature: Long, narrow leaves · Black berries

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Garden privet Ligustrum ovalifolium: broader, oval leaves that stay on longer. Difference from garden privet

Why grow it?

• Native: flowers for insects, berries for birds and leaves for privet hawk-moth caterpillars.
• A semi-evergreen hedge that tolerates hard pruning.
• Fragrant white flowers in June–July.
• A native alternative to butterfly bush.

Wild privet: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; in sun it flowers best.
• Ideally chalky, free-draining soil, but it grows on almost any soil; no wet feet.
• As a free-growing shrub, allow 2–3 m width; as a hedge, keep it 50–70 cm wide.
• Suitable for a clipped hedge, an informal mixed hedge or a hedgerow.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

4 m tall, 2.5 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Hawthorn: Together the backbone of a native mixed hedge, full of blossom and berries.
• Dog rose: Roses and hips in the hedge; both like chalk and sun.
• Cornelian cherry: Yellow flowers in February in the same chalk-loving hedge.
• Spindle: Pink fruits and red autumn colour next to the black privet berries.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Together a mixed native hedge, good for birds and insects: hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, dog rose, common dogwood, guelder rose, field maple, hornbeam
• Suits the woodland edge or the light shade of: ginkgo, box elder, ash, honey locust, field maple, silver maple

Wild privet: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March, bare-root or root-balled.
2. For a hedge: 3–4 plants per metre in a single row, or 5 per metre in a staggered double row.
3. Plant at the same depth as before and firm the soil well.
4. After planting, cut all shoots back by half: the hedge will then branch from the base.

Care

Watering

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

Feeding

Not needed; a little compost in spring for a hedge that is clipped often.

Building a young hedge

For the first few years, clip twice a year and let the hedge gain only 10–20 cm each time; keep the top slightly narrower than the base.

Flowers and berries

A tightly clipped hedge flowers little. Let part of the hedge or a few shrubs grow freely, for flowers and berries.

Tip: Want a hedge that stays green for longer in winter? Choose the cultivar ‘Atrovirens’: a wild privet that holds on to its leaves for longer.

Wild privet: when to prune it?

Pruning months: May–June, August–September and November–March.

When: Clip a hedge in May–June and late August; thin out a free-growing shrub in winter.

How:

• Tolerates hard pruning: an old, bare hedge can be cut back hard in winter and will regrow.
• Clip a hedge with a slightly narrower top than base and stretch a line for a straight edge.
• On a free-growing shrub, saw a few of the oldest stems off at ground level every few years.

Caution: Before the May–June clip, check that no birds are nesting in the hedge; thin out free-growing shrubs before mid-March.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Hardwood cuttings

In winter, push 20 cm lengths of one-year-old shoots two thirds of the way into the ground; they root very easily.

Sowing

Sow the seeds from ripe berries outdoors in autumn; they are slow to germinate.

Wild privet: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• The leaves drop during the course of the winter; in mild winters some stay on.
• The black berries hang on all winter, as food for thrushes and blackbirds.

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 hard in winter.
• Big green caterpillar: In summer a fat green caterpillar with purple and white diagonal stripes and a horn at the rear eats the leaves: the privet hawk-moth. Leave it be; the shrub doesn’t suffer.
• Aphids and thrips: Curled leaves or silvery-grey mottling in summer; usually harmless.

Through the year

• January: Thin out free-growing shrubs; berries for the birds.
• February: Winter pruning of free-growing shrubs; planting.
• March: Last winter pruning before mid-March; last month for bare-root planting.
• May: First clip of the hedge, late May; watch out for nests.
• June: Clip the hedge if you didn’t manage in May; free-growing shrubs start to flower.
• July: Flowering: scented panicles full of butterflies; privet hawk-moth caterpillars.
• August: Second clip, from late August.
• September: Last clip of the hedge; black berries.
• November: Planting, taking hardwood cuttings and thinning out free-growing shrubs.
• December: Winter pruning of free-growing shrubs.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Native, semi-evergreen hedge.

For wildlife

Food plant of the privet hawk-moth; berries for birds.

Caution: The berries are poisonous.

Good for wildlife

Caterpillars

Host plant: caterpillars of butterflies or moths eat the leaves.

Birds

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

Butterflies

Nectar for butterflies.

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Hoverflies

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

Did you know?

• Food plant of the privet hawk-moth, one of our largest moths.
• Its scented flowers attract so many butterflies that wild privet is a real native alternative to butterfly bush.
• Most privet hedges in gardens are not wild privet but garden privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) from Japan, which has broader leaves that stay on the shrub longer.
• The Roman poet Virgil already mentioned privet: ‘alba ligustra cadunt’, the white privet flowers fall, as an image of fading beauty.