privet help

11 years ago

I have old privets, about 18' tall, that run the width of my yard (150 feet) and provide privacy from the homes behind us. Over the last several years, they have become progressively worse and worse with many many dead clusters throughout. I have unspecified vinery climbing which i try to get at the base, cut and kill, and remove from the hedges. I cut a small section out about 5 years ago and planted a couple new ones, that never really gained height. The entire thing is troubling to me, as they are far too significant in size for me to remove, nor do I want to if they can recover. Do I remove the dead bunches to encourage growth. Do I take height off of them. Shoud I be trimming the front surface of these so they are not hanging heavily from the upper branches. Do they need food, water, a clean ground beneath them? I realize this is a bunch of questions, but I am desperate to save these. ALSO, the temps are in the 90's now in August 2012, in New Jersey, so I imagine this is a fall/spring project? Thank you for all who have knowledge with this.

Wayne

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Comments (5)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 years ago
Common privet, Ligustrum vulgare, responds extremely well to even quite severe renovation, as do most other privet types. These plants will regrow from hard prunig down to just a few inches above ground. That may well be much more than you need to do but just illustrates what can be done.

Now is not the time to do this. Late winter after the worst of the cold weather is past is ideal for a major pruning but you can do some tidying before that if the situation is intolerable. First, make a determined effort to rid the area/hedge from any weeds or under growth. I'd mulch after weeding/cleaning out both to keep additional weed growth to a minimum but also to conserve soil moisture and provide a little nutrient boost. Keep mulch away from direct contact with any wood stems. In mid/late fall you can groom the hedge, removing any overhanging or fountaining bits. These are very likely shading out lower growth and causing it to look woody and sparse. Ideally, hedges should be pruned in an 'A' shape - wider at the base and tapering up to a narrow top. This allows sunlight to reach all surfaces and should result in much more even foliar growth.

In March or so, you can do a harder prune if you like to reduce size overall and to clean things up. Removal of any dead wood and some interior thinning should help to encourage new growth.
MollyDog
11 years ago
Gardengal, I have to compliment you on your helpful replies. I always enjoy reading and learning.
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Cut a lot of lengths about a foot long and stick 6 inches into the ground in reasonable soil. Do plenty to allow for duds. Water occasionally and forget them. Or if you want to be a bit more organised do it in pots of compost. You can do it more carefully but privet roots so easily it's not worth the fuss. Your hedge needs pretty vigorous treatment IMO - at the moment it's a row of shrubs. But what do you want it to look like? To me a hedge looks like the link but maybe you don't want it so dense? Also privet is evergreen here so I might have a different conception of what you area after. Here is a link that might be useful: Privet hedge
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First of all, don't worry about the little "hedge balls" (wry grins). People have to work very consistently to make those strange things happen. I've never figured out why they would want to.... One question that matters: Are these hedges in a lot more shade than when they were first planted? Are there large trees casting heavy shade? If not, then the hedges can be recouped. If so, let me know. (Wish I could stand there and take a look at the different hedges.... Here's the best I can do to explain the dynamics.) When you cut the aboveground parts back, the roots put out new aboveground shoots, as many as they can manage. Each shoot will try to grow "straight up" as fast as possible. When the shoots get to be about half the height you want the hedge to be, cut off the growing end, above a set of leaves. This will get that shoot to put out branches all along the stem. It will bush out, and continue to add more height as well. When it comes to the old woody parts of the hedge, it can be a balancing act. You need to leave *some* aboveground parts to feed the roots, so they can put out the new productive shoots. But you need to get the non-productive stuff out. If the old woody thick stems have younger sprouts coming up from the ground around them, then take a deep breath, and cut the old-thicks to the ground. If that part of the hedge is mostly old-woody, without much in the way of other younger shoots.... Gets trickier. If that's the situation, let me know. "Starting over" is not a crazy thing, but it probably would take at least as long to get something like decent hedges back. And they would not be your dad's hedges...
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Hi I just finished a big job pruning a client's long, very overgrown privet hedge. It borders two properties, and each owner had pruned it differently over the years, and one side had fared far worse than the other, resulting in huge bare stems with all the green at the top. Needless, to say, it was a LOT of work. The other posters have given very good advice--overgrown privets can be restored, but it takes a couple of restoration prunings spaced months apart over a year. I myself prune using hand pruners, and don't shear with power tools because I like a softer look. Shearing tends to keep all the green leaves on the very perimeter of the plant, so that most of it is bare wood. Hand pruning gives you more control to prune and open up the inside of the bush to sunlight which really stimulates growth. I agree that the best time to prune privet severely is during its dormant stage in the early spring, when you should also add an organic shrub fertilizer. But you can do a less severe pruning during the growing season, removing the oldest canes close to ground level, and then cutting away heavy top growth to get light into the interior of the shrub. Privet is tough. I try to shape it so that the shrub narrows toward the top, but when you're dealing with an extremely overgrown bush with little greenery on the bottom half, it ain't going to look great for awhile! A couple suggestions: Watch the "This Old House" video on YouTube about pruning an overgrown privet hedge. Roger the host gives a good tutorial, but realize that the episode telescopes the labor involved! Second, use a tarp to stack the cut branches on. This makes clean up a lot easier. Third, use a Weed Wrench to pull out any maple saplings that have sprouted amid the privet roots. Also, I found a nearby arborist who came with his truck and chipped and hauled away all the tons of cut branches for $100. It would have taken hours and hours to bundle or bag this material otherwise. Good luck!
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Steve ... The plant looks OK .. but get it out of that pot .. the box you bought it in is not meant to be a permenant container .. and it's been in their way to long. Check the the roots to make sure they are not growing in a circle .. if so pry them apart a bit before replanting. Also ... get rid of that nursery stake ... it will seriously wound the tree ... if you must restake use two stakes secured loosely to allow the tree room to move and grow without injury. Give the plant a good washing down once in a while .. that will help the dust problem. The temps you mention are no problem for this plant but they do get a bit weather beaten in winter and growth will slow or stop at this time. The plant can take a considerable amount of sun and do well in moderate to moderate heavy shade. At my home they do great growing as foundation plants on the north side of my two story home. Avoid reflected heat from patios .. walls or rock mulch. Use organic mulches around this plant. The best bet with water is to pry into the soil .. look for moist but not soggy conditions and a clean earthy smelling soil not rotten egg smell. The plant will do better in the ground but can be grown in large pots with drainage... about three times as wide as what you have now. Flush pots out once in a while to reduce salt build up. The main problem with this plant in deserts is iron deficiency ( yellow leaves with green viens 0 .. salt build up ( leaves with yellow then brown tips and edges ). They need decent drainage so watch water carefully if planted in the ground .. pry into the soil. All in all a tough plant. Try giving the plant a rest from pruning for a while. End of winter pruning is best .. light pruning anytime... be careful in summer ..pruning can expose shade leaves to sun and cause leaf burn .. ugly but not fatal. Good luck. Good Day ...
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wlc123
Original Author
11 years ago
gardengal,
thanks very much for that reply. I will do a major ground cleaning this fall, and maybe remove some obvious death (there is quite a lot of large dead areas). I do also have a large overhang all along the 150 or so feet. Another major problem is two different types of weedy vinery that if not constantly removed will grow over an entire area and seems to suffocate it. In the fall I will also go into this hedge and cut down these at the base and soak the exposed area with vine killer like a poison ivy liquid.
lisanti07028
11 years ago
I cut down about 30 feet of over 18 foot privets two years ago; I'm glad that I did it, and the hedge looks great now, but jeez louise it was a hellacious job.

The privets just shrugged off my electric chain saw, and I ended up doing the whole thing with a hand pruning saw. The wood is dense and quite heavy, and the interior branches are unyielding. And then you have 18 foot long poles to deal with. If I had to do it again, I would pay a tree company to do it - they come in with the heavy-duty chain saws and the chipper, and can be done with it, leaving you a nice pile of wood chips, in an afternoon.

If you have a heavy-duty chain saw already, you're in much better shape than I was, but getting rid what's left once you cut it down is daunting.
Please believe that I am not saying you are incapable of doing this, or that it's Herculean, but it is a long, long job without lots of power equipment.

FWIW, I cut them down in November - I couldn't stand looking at them one more day - and they were fine.
capriow
11 years ago
lisanti07028................I dint expect for one second that this will be quick or easy. It is 150 feet of 7 foot deep jungle! Lots of dead, 2 and 3" diameter stalks. I plan to rent a pole chain saw and spend most of the day outside. probably pull my sons pickup right to the back of the yard and pile the cuttings in and make several trips to the dump. Then rake everything out from underneath! I plan to lose 10 pounds that day, but I need these things to recover and green up and look presentable as they are a fantastic natural fence. Thanks!

privet help

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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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privet help

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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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