Topic: Privet advice please?

[tim]

This is what I am asked -

I need to cut back our privet hedge that is our border with our neighbours. This is because we want to put a cycle shed on the edge of our front garden. I need to know how much I can cut off it without killing the whole thing?? If i was to cut it back to the wood / old growth up to a height of 5 feet ( its at least 6 feet if not taller) Are there guidlines or do you just cut and pray??

[grawrc]

I think privet is pretty tough and can take quite hard pruning. Probably best to wait until there are some signs of spring growth starting first though.

When we moved here we had a 10 foot neglected privet hedge about 4-5 feet thick which we attacked with hedgecutters, secateurs and pruning saw. it is stil there and very much alive albeit much reduced in overall size.

[saddad]

You can cut it down to 6" and it will bounce back Tim...
My advice would be to pay someone to grub it out... (Not my favourite plant)  ::)

[tim]

It's her dividing 'wall'.

But thanks, Dad!!

[glosterwomble]

We have privet dividing us with our neighbours. It's about 4 feet wide and last summer we decided enough was enough, it takes up too much space so we cut it back by about 2 feet. It looks very scrappy at the moment but has lots of new buds and growth on wood that you would think was dead! So I say go for it. I read up lots before and people reckoned it would take a couple of years to look good but I think that's worth it.

[Ninnyscrops.]

Privet will take on the shape left for its growth Tim.....that's what my grandpa did way back in the '60's when he wanted a bit of space for his front gate  ;)

Ninny

[Pesky Wabbit]

You can cut it down to 6" and it will bounce back Tim...
My advice would be to pay someone to grub it out... (Not my favourite plant)  ::)

I'd second that, but wait until early summer when the thing is in full growth, but still has plenty of time to grow before the next frosts.

(I'd also agree about grubbing it out  :-X)

[Grandma]

Horrible thing, Tim and just about unkillable - I'm on the side of the grubber-outers!

But whatever your neighbour decides to do, please ask her to give a thought to the birds and cut it back well before or well after nesting time. Its only use is providing a home for our feathered friends!

[tim]

Most grateful - I'll pass on all the good advice.

[Tulipa]

Hi Tim, hope all is well with you.

A bit of info we were given years ago and have used several times is that you can severely butcher one side of a hedge and as long as the other side is not trimmed too drastically it will be fine.  We have taken back several hedges a few feet by doing it alternate years each side.

Good luck. x

[valmarg]

I'm aother 'grubber outer'.  Another thing with privet, and it's cousin lilac, they are extremely gross feeders, so you won't get much to grow nearby.

valmarg

[grawrc]

So given the requirement for a hedge(or boundary demarcation) what would all you privet grubber-outers plant instead?

[saddad]

Well... you could go for the obvious "hedging" hawthorn...  :-\

[Grandma]

Almost anything, grawc - except Leylandii!

[grawrc]

It was an academic enquiry! I am perfectly happy with my privet hedge which forms the boundary at the bottom of the garden, arching over the gate which gives access to the communal lane behind. It is attractive, easy to maintain and, even the part behind the shed is healthy and green. It survives abuse and neglect and is full of blackbirds every spring. It has no thorns and since it is at the northern end of the garden, overshadows nothing. If I were starting from scratch I would certainly consider other things and there are many better hedging plants, but please don't knock privet! In the right place it does a good job and is certainly not in the same class as leylandii - my pet hedging hate.

[emmy1978]

but please don't knock privet!

I like it too.... :-[ Poor Privet.  :'(

[betula]

I really dislike privet,keeping it tidy is a nightmare.It is a pretty boring thing to look at too. :D

[Robert_Brenchley]

When we moved to Cornwall way back, there was a self-set privet in the middle of what was intended to be a lawn. I hacked that thing like mad for over a year before I finally gave up and weedkillered it. I don't like it as a hedging plant for my allotment; I've got a fair bit and the shoots are quite weak. There are lots of places round the site where you can force your way through privet, while you wouldn't even try if it was hawthorn. I don't think hawthorn is the best thing for a small garden though, as the cuttings are so thorny. Anything is better than Leylandii!

[Ninnyscrops.]

Nothing wrong with Leylandii if you are the boss Robert  ;) like some of those little balls around the pond, there's also a hawthorn the other side of the back fence that we keep in check. I must agree though, I wouldn't like to dig either out!

Ninny

[Robert_Brenchley]

As long as you remain the boss, OK. But what happens when you move and your sucessor isn't a gardener? I wouldn't want to be responsible for letting the stuff loose.