Privet in flower

Privet ‘Lingustrum Vulgare’

Where has all the ‘Privet’ gone? In my youth it seemed as though every small garden was kept private by a neatly clipped Privet hedge. If it wasn’t clipped it went hay wire.

• Privet is usually described as evergreen or semi-evergreen.
• It loses some leaves in the winter, but not all of them and will grow almost anywhere
• Green privet must be kept cut otherwise it becomes very open and loses its effect.
• Particularly good in windy areas and by the sea.
• Privet can withstand very hard pruning to get it back in shape
• Privet is hard to remove as the roots are tenacious.

Privet Hedge around tennis court.

The posh gardens near us had golden privet that was light green with a yellow stripe but most of us had a dark green hedge. There are Yellow-leaved varieties available which are smaller than the green-leaved type.

• Yellow Ligustrum ovalifolium aureum has wonderfully scented if fairly ordinary looking white flowers in the spring.
• Height and spread: 12ft x 12ft
• Growth needs cutting twice a year but leaves can be bisected. Clipping may take away most of the flowers.
• Propagation by cutting is very easy

Credits
Privet by jwinfred CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
privet lives by Yersinia CC BY-NC-SA 2.0