What's so bad about Japanese privet (aka waxleaf ligustrum)?
17 years ago
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- 17 years ago
- 17 years ago
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Privet hedges
Comments (16)Privet (ligustrum) will make a dense hedge, but you'll be pruning 24/7 for the entire growing season. Not sure what variety I had, but it definitely did throw out suckers and would shoot out wayward branches four and five feet long. Within days of pruning there'd already be new growth starts. And if things couldn't get worse, beneath each shiny, waxy, hard to pick up out of the grass leaf there would be a million white flies that swirled up in clouds when disturbed. I only tolerated this "builder's special" because it had interesting contorted low branches. I'd prune it up at least twice a season to showcase the branching - wearing gloves and a face & nose mask. I can definitely understand your need for a screen - and fast. The major problem is as shrubs grow high, they also grow wide and giving up space becomes an issue. Upright evergreens would seem to be the ideal, though. Are you sure your Green Giants are goners? A pair of old pantyhose cut down the legs on the bias in a continuous rope does a fabulous job of tying up multiple leaders or a drooping snow bent branch. And browning can regenerate if the damage hasn't gone into the "dead zone" in the interior of the plant. Winter browning can be expected with most species and cultivars of Thuja. Some of the Taxus (yews) or junipers might come with higher recommendatons....See MoreLigustrum
Comments (5)The invasive aspect of plants is not always immediately visible to the owner. My neighbor across the street has several large mature ligustrum and eleagnus. I pick out seedlings from my yard all the time from these two. He may not have any. It depends on where the birds transport the seeds. There are other invasive plants that spread by suckering or running: Japanese honeysuckle, for example. Having a plant like this is more obvious to the owner that it is invasive. I'd suggest you look into something new for the area that needs privacy. Think of it as an adventure and a chance to get to know some new plants....See Morewinter damage on Japanese ligustrum
Comments (4)until it fully leafs out.. and you know what parts are dead.. or severely damaged ... or until everythign else is the area leafs out.. and this one doesnt .... unless you have a crystal ball and can summons the spirits.. to let you know in advance .. if you do.. and you can.. i would appreciate you bringing it by.. so we can figure it all out on my plants.. lol .. and dont scratch it anymore.. time will tell ... maybe.. if spring ever actually come this year... look to the buds.. are they viable.. the buds are always the future ... w/o them.. you have to wait and see.. if the plant can rebud.. and that will even take longer ... or .. being a privet.. just cut it to 6 inches.. and forget about it ... out of site.. out of mind.. with no insult to the root mass.. it will be at least half the size by fall .... its all about.. how long you want to look at it .... in the state its in right now ... [yeah.. yeah.. if its in tree form.. dont do that] ken...See MoreWeeds: the worst and the not so bad
Comments (28)I'm glad to read all these reports; they're interesting! Thanks to everyone who's written in. Rosemeadowgardener: I don't recognize any of the weeds you list; are they Australian natives, or exotic: do you know their botanical names? Thank God we don't have one of the worst curses of North America here: no poison ivy, oak, sumac. How interesting to read Marianne's weed list from the other end of the European temperate zone and discover that I have all the nasty weeds she does, and several of the nice ones. Galium aperine is an unpleasant plant, sticky and climbing, but there are a number of other Galium species that grow locally that are rather nice. Sweet woodruff is Galium odoratum. Our native primrose is Primula vulgaris; and we too have anemones, hepaticas, wild geraniums--harebells I think not. Connie speaks of the huge weed population of her property, which is an old farm. We too garden on a former farm and downhill from a current one, and I agree with what her post suggests, that agricultural properties present particular weed problems. Ongoing plowing leaves ground permanently disturbed, given weeds fertile ground to grow; grazing animals can trample ground, and the hay brought in to feed them can bring weed seeds from other areas. The year after the shade garden was flooded with manure from a cattle enclosure above, the weed population there was amazing. And we get great numbers of weeds, some of them highly obnoxious, along the drainage ditches that descend from our neighbors' plowed fields through our own land. Then, if fields and pastures are abandoned, they begin to go to brush, and you get brambles and other colonizing species--Connie's plant list is different from mine, but the process is the same. What the heck is Creeping Charlie? A couple of you have mentioned it. The various posts have covered quite a bit of territory, not only in the literal sense, on the topic of weeds. Paula took up the issue of invasive exotics that push out native species on undomesticated land (as well as the native but obnoxious Poison Oak). This is a problem all over the world, of course. I read in that interesting book 'Ecological Imperialism' about how many plants flourished in Europe along with the development of agriculture and became weeds, then traveled all over the world with European colonizers and established themselves in temperate zones everywhere, often at considerable cost to native species. We too have our exotic invasive species--one standout here in the hills is black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, originally from North America--but I wonder what the effect has been on our native flora of a few thousand years of tolerably intensive agriculture. Were there species that went extinct because they were useless to humans and occupied land that could be used for farming and other useful activities? Some plant populations exist in part as a result of human activities: we have a rich population of native orchids many of which grow in pasture land and are now threatened because grazing is disappearing and the land is turning to brushland and then to woods. But perhaps three thousand years ago the orchids that grew were those adapted to woodlands? Lavender lass: do you know the species name of your artemisia? We have one ugly native artemisia, A. vulgaris, but a couple of nice ones. Another pleasant weed I remembered is lemon balm, Melissa officinalis--what a fine plant to share a name with. It's too invasive to plant, but grows wild at the edges of beds, is fragrant, and has fresh green leaves that are pretty in spring. I feel better every time I see it. I like mulleins too. We have a woolly species similar to what erasmus describes which makes a fine ornamental; the problem is that it seems to need a somewhat lighter soil than is present in most of our garden; otherwise it's not fussy. Melissa...See More- 17 years ago
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