What is going on with my Privet?

12 years ago

I have an old privet headge. I am fairly new property owner and I am learning. I have been working n getting everything healthy and properly maintained, but this privet has me condused. It is shaped like a hedge wall, I trim it a few times during the summer. It is not as thick as I would like it... Last year it was not really lush. I figured it was from the heat. Last summer was very hot and dry. This spring they started growing and were very lush and green. Maybe I waited to long to prun them since I had to cut off a lot of the growth and leaves to get them into the shape I wanted. They are growing leaves again now in most spots. What happened last year is happening again. about 2 or 3 weeks ago we had a heat wave of 3 or 4 days in the high 90s. It seems the leaves and growth still on the bushs went from fresh and lush to leathery rough and dark with white specks that don't come off. The headge go all the way around the property, but they all turned this way overnight it seems like. Some sides do grow a little better then others, but they all are not doing as good as they were a few weeks ago.

My care routine is I will pull out dead branches when I see them, saplings when I see them and trim them when they lose thier shape. Do I need to water these regularly like my other landscaping? I was under the impression privet can just be left alone. What should I be doing to make them healthy and full?

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Comments (11)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
whats on the back of the leaves .. aphids??? .. scale...

i think i see scale on some of the branches .. if so.. they are literally sucking the plant dry ...

there are systemic remedies for such ... such as by bayer ... but it wont be cheap but are very effective .... and personally i dont know if i would invest in privet.. with all the maintenance they require ...

there are also organic solutions [oil spraying]... which never worked for me ...

but i recall my first house.. listen closely .. the happiest day of my life in the garden.. was the day i got rid of the last horrible problem the prior owner left me ...

do NOT hesitate for one minute.. to move on with your life.. and put you own stamp on the landscape ... though it will be hard work .. or expensive ... you will be creating your own problems.. rather than messing with the prior owners nightmares ...

ken
mjm_nj
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks, I don't really see any that looks like scale on the wood. It What is it that you see that looks like scale? I can try to get a better picture. It seems to just be the leaves. If it was scale would the tree have ever been lush with new growth? I am going to go take a picture of the backs of the leaves, but they looked ok. I have thought about ripping them out, but I live on a main road I need the privacy and potection from garbage they provide. I also can't afford anything else, so I am trying to get them to work for me... What is the Bayer treatment?
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Thanks for the input. To clarify, the tree is definately alive. Tiny new shoots are coming through on a few of the branches. I have searched it all over and there's no sign of pests, so do you think that means the defoliation is either due to the period of underwatering or the time of year then? If that's the case, I'm tempted to leave it where it is for a couple of months or at least until the new shoots have got going properly before repotitng into a better container - or do you think it needs to be moved right away? I'm torn - lack of drainage holes is dangerous, but then so is repotting! What to do?
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I have 2 golden privets that I planted last year. They did very well and were very happy in their new home. Over the winter the bunnies really stripped away at the bark so I had to cut back some of it that was not showing signs of budding in spring. Since the bush broke dormancy it appears to have spots in the middle that start to leaf out really full and then when the leaves get to be less than an inch long they wilt and then wither away. So, I cut back the branch a bit and then it leafs out and the same cycle happens again. It is only happening in the middle of the bush though. I was just outside and seeing that we are in the 4th cycle of the same event now happening. What if anything, can I do to get these branches to leaf out entirely?
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Hello, Bart! I'm always pleased to talk about my garden, and glad to hear about yours. There are several different ligustrums common in Italy. The two I like are the common, small-leafed hedging privet, I think the botanical name is Ligustrum obtusifolium, and California privet, L. ovalifolium, with slightly larger leaves of a fresher green, and needing a bit more water. There are other privets around, including a large-leafed one that reaches tree size; there's a yellow-variegated form I often see: this variety doesn't do anything for me, it's rigid for my taste. And L. japonicum, with very glossy dark green leaves like a camellia, common as grass in Florida, not as well adapted as others to my garden, though I have three chlorotic plants due to DH's activities while my back was turned. Two other common evergreen hedging shrubs are photinia or red-top, another old friend from Florida, and, chief of all evergreen hedging shrubs, English laurel, lauroceraso, Prunus laurocerasus. The photinia wandered into our garden by accident and at least in shade is more drought tolerant and all-resistant than I would have given it credit for. It has rather pleasant foliage. English laurel is horribly over- and misused. It doesn't like full sun or being kept too low, but I've seen a hedge 10' x 6', under a big old oak, that was honestly handsome. I had to battle a hedge of English laurel at my old house in Washington and I'm not fond of the plant. I could say more about my experiences with evergreen shrubs and hedging shrubs, but I don't know what you would be interested in hearing, and also am not in the best of health at the moment. Is your blue salvia the native S. pratensis? We have that, and I agree you have to watch it, but it's handsome and tough. It grows by the side of the road and in neglected fields here. The red one I'm familiar with but am not sure of the name, but I dislike masses of bright color in bedding schemes. Culinary sage is good-looking, except in winter when it gets shabby; it flowers handsomely and has good foliage and fine drought tolerance. Mine self-seeds. The cultivar 'Ictarina' can take just about anything and is the prettiest yellow-variegated plant I know. I have the highest opinion of S. greggii for a dry garden, for beauty and for toughness. There are a lot of fabulous sages out there. What I have have all been passed on to me by various gardening friends. The Petrovic roses were entirely satisfactory and I recommend the nursery, however you have to make a big order to justify the shipping and import charges. It's worth it. The selection of varieties of wonderful. I wasn't able to organize myself this year for another large order, but am hoping to be able to do so in a year's time. I adore all those once-blooming old roses, even though we need a cool spring for them to bloom well. I'd put them all down in the shade garden if I could, but there's just not enough room for them. Gean, we had wax myrtles in Florida, too, but they're not even listed in Dirr's Manual. I'm always suspicious of plants from the eastern U.S. for my garden here, as rainfall patterns are so different in the two places. The Pacific Northwest is climatically much closer, of course. I've been working clearing and even planting a couple of things down in the woods below the shade garden, and getting excited about the potential for a whole different flora than what grows out in the sunny garden. It's already pretty there, and I've hardly even begun planting yet. Melissa
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carla, they might be talking about the older cultivars of Abelia - the ones that get much bigger. Abelia 'Edward Goucher' is another smaller cultivar (3 to 5 feet). These newer ones are good examples of what it mean to improve on previous introductions! From another site: If pruning is required, remove shoots at their bases in late spring. Alternatively, it can be grown as a hedge to 5 feet high and 3 feet wide. Set plants 3 feet on center and remove the tips of long shoots to encourage them to branch. Once established, prune a hedge of ÂEdward GoucherÂ annually in spring. Other possible evergreen suggestions are Agarista populifolia (used to be Leucothoe, hobblebush is a common name, 'Leprechaun is a dwarf version but still not too small), and dwarf forms of Wax myrtle. Cheers to you for wanting something "not the usual".
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years ago
Let's figure out what the problem is before thinking about 'the Bayer treatment', okay?

I'd like to see some different pictures. I'm not sure what Ken is seeing...can't see any scale and am wondering where the back of the leaves are?? The image I'm seeing shows what appears to be a terrible spider mite problem (leaf stippling), but I wonder if that's just because the image is really grainy.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
bottom right corner... branch coming upwards.. seems to have white specks..

other than that.. it is not a great picture ... for diagnosis

and yes... chemicals are the last resort ... AFTER proper ID ..

can we rule out lawn spray drift ...

regardless of budget.. you ought to at least.. start thinking about how to get rid of them .. yet maintain your privacy ... a pic of the whole might help us make suggestions ....

one that comes to mind.. it to begin to plant replacement plants... now ... small and cheap.. so that in 5 years.. when the have achieved size.. you can remove what i suspect might still be problems ...

also.. consider diversity of choice ... when you have too many of one thing.. and you are relying on them.. and they all fail at the same time... then you might be able to see the wisdom of having many different plant types ...

ken
mjm_nj
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks guys, i am sorry it took a while to post back. The weekend has been a little busy. I have a picture of the back of the leaves. I will take more pictures tomorrow and try to make sure they are a little better. I am using an iphone. What is Lawn spray drift?

Here is a link that might be useful:
mjm_nj
Original Author
12 years ago
I took some more pictures. I knokw they are not great. THey are stil from my phone. I can not find my camera.

Here is a link that might be useful: privet pics
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
naw.. i dont see any scale in these pix...

but you did bring back teenhood nightmares of having to shear privet twice a year ... at the parents house ...

i want to see what others tell you.. before i tell you what i would do ...

ken
mjm_nj
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Ken, looks like your the only one with an idea with what's going on.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
come on shrubs peeps... no one can ID the problem ...

perhaps you ought to try the NAME THAT PLANT FORUM ... those peeps.. can name a problem.. as well as a plant ... report back here ...

i was thinking.. and this is stark.. of cutting every other one back severely ... to rejuvenate an aged hedge ... then next year do the same with the other half ...

but i still want a proper ID on the problem .. before i would wholeheartedly recommend such ...

ken
deltaohioz5
12 years ago
Could be powdery mildew.

Frank

Here is a link that might be useful: powdery mildew
sam_md
12 years ago
Search False Spider Mites

What is going on with my Privet?

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What is going on with my Privet?

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