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Gardening in the UK

privet hedges

19 years ago

Hi all,

I'm pretty much a newbie to gardening so please forgive my brief descriptions and lack of correct names.

I am looking after someone's garden while they are away and am concerned about about three dozen privet hedges which aren't looking too good. Some are in shady areas, others are in full sun. They are all watered well, but many have a small amounts of dead branches , mainly at the base. I was told to try 'blood, fish & bone' on them, which I did. Although there are some new leaves growing, they don't seem to be doing as well as they should.

Can anyone suggest something I can do to improve their health please, maybe a fertilizer of some sort?

Thanks for any help.

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Comments (4)

pineresin
19 years ago
What shape are the hedges? To get good growth down near the bottom, the hedge needs to be broadest at the base and narrower at the top, or else the base doesn't get enough light to grow well. If it is broadest at the middle or higher, then the lower part will get too much shade from the top to grow.

Resin
flora_uk
19 years ago
3 dozen privet hedges ???? Is this a stately home you are babysitting? How long are they away for? Unless it is a very long time ie more than a year, I don't think you should feel responsible for the hedges. They will have started to get unhealthy long before you came on the scene and you are unlikely to be able to make much difference to them in less than a year or so. Also you say 'they are well watered'. Privet hedges shouldn't really need watering. They can manage fine without it. If you are watering them I think you are probably wasting your energy, your time and water. There are very few things that should need watering in an average British summer apart from newly planted stuff, some vegetables and things in containers. personally I'd just leave the hedges alone apart from clipping them if they need it.
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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 khearns, It turned out great, but I made a couple mistakes. Hopefully, this information will help you: I would recommend not planting the cuttings as close together as we did. Ours got pretty big by the third year, and you can always propagate more to fill in spots, if needed. Second, make sure there is nothing directly next to the hedge like a fence or wall (ours were planted in front of a tall fence). Likely, it was because of these mistakes that our privet did not thrive. They did not have good air circulation and contracted downy mildew. I ended up digging them all out last fall. I removed the fence as well. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5770864/what-ails-our-privet With the hedge, we were hoping to block the view of our woodpile from the road. I suppose the woodpile doesn't look too bad, but I wouldn't mind trying another natural hedge. I don't know as if I really want a privet hedge anymore, though. We tried blue prince/princess holly before the privet, but that did not work out too well, either (too much winter die back/slow growth). I do think hicks yew might be a good option for a natural hedge as it looks nice, is evergreen and takes well to trimming. However, I don't think it's as conducive to propagating as privet, and it can be quite slow growing. Good luck!
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I second Bab's sentiments. If this is common privet, it's common because it's fast growing and therefore cheap. But it requires too much pruning and has not got much exciting about it ... other than being cheap and big ... like the cute puppy that grew to 60 pounds and developed some bad habits. You'll need to clear out the path that the hedge shrubs will be installed in. If grass and weeds are there, mark out the bed and then spray with glyphosate one week before planting. You don't want hedge plants tangled with weeds. After planting, you'll mulch the space. Depending on what you're putting in, it might be possible to mulch first and plant carefully (if small.)
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shrubs_n_bulbs
19 years ago
One good way of rejuvenating a neglected privet hedge is to chop it to a stump, or at least a little cluster of branches about a foot high, and let it grow back. You can then treat the new growth appropriately to create the correct shape and density.

Do you think you could get away with taking a chain saw to your friend's hedge maze?!?

Of course longterm renovation would involve checking into the conditions below ground. Soil may be compacted or just depleted after having a greedy hedge sucking out nutrients for decades and nothing going back in. As a quick fix, a few inches of compost around the base of the hedge couldn't hurt.
alison_froglady
19 years ago
As you say you are a newbie to gardening and you have 3 dozen privet hedges could you be mistaken and calling them 'privet' when they could be 'box' hedge. The leaves are quite similar and it is an easy mistake to make if you are not a gardener. I know for many years I wondered how people kept such small 'privet' hedges when in reality they didn't have a privet at all.

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