Newbie questions about pruning privet hedge

Hi folks - first-time poster here with some pretty simple questions I'm sure, so please be kind!

I grew up in a hot and dry climate and so I'm pretty clueless when it comes to caring for and hedges.

At the place where my front garden where it meets the pavement, I planted a row of privet hedge plants last September. They are spaced out about 18 inches apart and are about five feet tall and still quite young, but have begun to sprout lots of little leaves over the past few weeks (of course).

As they have now started to grow, I have some questions about how to prune the plants so that they grow into the shape I want. Can you help me?

I want the plants to grow about 6-8 inches taller than they are now, and I also want them to "flesh out" a bit more. Little sprouts are starting to stick up. Should I trim them now or should I let them grow more?

How often should I trim privet hedge during the growing season?

Should I trim the sides as well?

Many thanks for your help and advice!

Reply to
ajax
Loading thread data ...

I will assume privet means you have Chinese privet. These plants, if it's what yo have, will want to grow 10 feet wide by 15 feet tall. You can keep them smaller, but it may take a lot of work to keep them as smalll as you want.

As often as necessary to keep them the size and shape you want.

No, not if you want them to knit together, but if they are planted too close (which they are, sorry to say) they will start to grow into each other. Do trim the fronts to keep them from overcoming your walkway.

When you prune or shape hedges and remove the growing tips, you are breaking what's known as the apical dominance. When you do this, you are forcing branching to occur lower on the plant, making it more bushy than normal.

I have Chinese privet and they are mature at 20 feet wide by 18 feet tall. I don't hedge them up, they are the natural shape. I will eventually have to remove them. They are beautiful shrubs and I have variegated foliage privets, but they are just not a good idea where I live in Texas. They do spread around by seed.

I hope you have info now.

Reply to
Jangchub

Good question. pruning information here:

Many tree problems are associated with the following: They are Case Sensitive.

Pruning

formatting link
people just use hedge trimmers. Thought you might desire targeted information.

Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Consulting Forester & Tree Expert

formatting link
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.

Reply to
symplastless

Privet (genus Ligustrum) takes very well to shearing. If you are ambitious, you might even try topiary with them.

In general, a hedge should be sheared to be a little wider at the bottom than at the top, with slightly sloping sides. This ensures that enough light reaches the foliage at the bottom. With vertical sides, less light reaches the bottom, resulting in die-out of the lower branches.

I'm a docent at a public garden that's a showcase of garden design concepts from different parts of the world. The privet in the French garden is sheared about once every second week from late spring until middle fall and about once a month during the rest of the year. It's kept to about 3 ft high. That's because the design concept for the French garden is formality, with symmetry and geometry. In the French garden, boxwood and even the star jasmine are also sheared. (In the English garden, however, plants are not sheared; they billow irregularly.)

Reply to
David E. Ross

Privet is not a tree.

Reply to
Jangchub

...and the OP does not have a "problem". Either I watched too many Sopranos episodes, or someone needs to take the resident tree shmexpert out behind a dumpster for a tuneup, using a baseball bat.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Thanks very much for the useful advice!

Reply to
ajax

Pretty obviously symptomless's notions of treating a hedge row like a tree is as usual worthless advice, and that lame generic page he spams newsgroups about wouldn't be much use even if the questioner HAD been asking how to trim privet trees.

Nevertheless, Ligustrum vulgare or lucidum can grow to thirty feet in height, really fast growing aggressive trees and environmentally harmful in some places, having in New Zealand for example begun to displace entire forest ecosystems.

In the long run they're actually ROTTEN "shrubs" for hedging because they want to be big, and when aggressively trimmed to force them to stay small won't flower much if at all and get uglier and ugler as the branches thicken into trucks with fewer and fewer leaves. Common choices yeah, but crap, and really ought to be banned before naturalizing in even more forests.

The Chinese privet is a bit easier to keep hedged if one must try it but even that would rather be eight or twelve feet tall. And the Londense privet (Ligustrum vulgare lodense) and Nanum privet (L. japonicum) supposed to stay naturally small (under six feet even if never trimmed and easily kept at four). But those aren't usually the "garden departments" cheapies and its the common privet that gets poorly chosen for the purpose.

-paghat the ratgirl

Reply to
paghat

Privet is a woody plant that most likely compartmentalize wounds. They surely don't heal wounds. I would bet you could get a doughnut orf callus result if you pruned at the right target.

All options should be on the table.

While I am at it here are some common issues with woody plants and their associates for the newbie.

Many tree problems are associated with the following: They are Case Sensitive.

Unhealthy Trees from the Nursery / Improper Planting

formatting link
Mulching -
formatting link
Pruning
formatting link
Fertilization (See A Touch of Chemistry)
formatting link
Farming and Related Problems
formatting link
in the Rhizosphere
formatting link
John A. Keslick, Jr. Consulting Forester & Tree Expert
formatting link
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.

Reply to
symplastless

You sound like a violent person or a criminal. Maybe a career criminal.

Reply to
symplastless

Joe

Maybe you could explain at least five major differences between the way a woody plant other than a tree compartmentalizes wounds.

Or maybe even explain five "anatomy" difference between a woody root of a woody plant and the woody stem of a woody plant.

About threatening me with a baseball bat - threats of violence may not be in your best interest. is that what you really desire?

Reply to
symplastless

At the moment, yes. And I doubt anyone in this newsgroup would mind if I worked over your fingers first.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Joe

What is your real name? Do you think you are hiding? I have given your comment on which I assume you are suggesting to people on this list to use a baseball bat on me, some extended thought. You now have 101% of my attention. I am not a person that takes threats and such suggestions lightly. I do believe in non-violent direct action. I now consider you as a threat. Now lets see how a person responds when threatened. Trees always respond when threatened. They survive for many many years, many longer than humans under the right condition, as a sugar maple that can have parenchyma cells live for up to 150 years if things go right.

You have chosen to take this news group to a higher level. One of threats of violence and bodily harm. It was your decision. A poor one if you ask me.

Don't you think I should survive like a tree and respond? If not please explain why not. You have 3 days or I will turn this over to a higher power, meaning a higher power than you.

Reply to
symplastless

Please go back to drinking whatever it is you drink, boy. And be very quiet.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Oh I fully agree. I have the Chinese privet and they are humongous, both tall and wide. Their only redeeming quality is that the birds love to nest in them. Mine are not hedged so look natural and even weeping. Anyway, we are in total agreement about the entire post, disinformation on the URL, etc. Just silly already.

Reply to
Jangchub

I am thinking you have some issues.

Reply to
Jangchub

At least a wiffle bat

Reply to
Jangchub

comment on which I assume you are suggesting to people on this list to use a baseball bat on me, some extended thought. You now have 101% of my attention. I am not a person that takes threats and such suggestions lightly. I do believe in non-violent direct action. I now consider you as a threat. Now lets see how a person responds when threatened. Trees always respond when threatened. They survive for many many years, many longer than humans under the right condition, as a sugar maple that can have parenchyma cells live for up to 150 years if things go right.

violence and bodily harm. It was your decision. A poor one if you ask me.

explain why not. You have 3 days or I will turn this over to a higher power, meaning a higher power than you.

This is not an HTML friendly place. Get a grip. Nobody seriously threatened you. People here are pretty sure you have some problems, and no sense of humor.

Reply to
Jangchub

A sense of humor requires a brain.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

If only your problems could be explained by improper mulching. But, I suspect your parents used your head as a battering ram to open the door when they locked their keys in the house.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.