Try inkberry

Plant nothing near a swimming pool that produces small parts that will be sucked into the water filtration system. Also if the privet you are considering is one that flowers much the heavy sweet odor of these is something that is not for everybody. And even with formal shearing there will probably be enough flowers escaping here and there farther back inside the hedge for the smell to be noticeable.

I don’t know if they do well in your area but have you considered pitisporum? It’s not as messy as privet in that some varieties don’t flower and it can be pruned into a hedge or left a little more relaxed and wispy. We planted 50 5 gallon pitisporum shrubs around our fence perimeter and they have grown almost to the top of a 6 foot fence in about 15 mos.

In the garden books I own written in the 1920's, there are many laments on how hard it has suddenly become to find horse manure. In the garden books I own written in the 1950's there are many laments on how hard it has suddenly become to find someone who knows how to trim a hedge. So because of that, the hedging plants that require frequent trimming to maintain their shape, namely hemlock and privet, fell out of favor.

So to my mind, the big issue with a privet hedge, aside from the fact that I, personally, don't like privet, is that it should be clipped about 3 times a year. If you are OK with that level of maintenance, go for it.

When we first bought this house, it had a hemlock hedge bordering the deck. I pruned it about twice a year for a few years, then had my DH take care of it. I told him he could either trim it with hedge shears, or trim it with a chainsaw. He chose the chainsaw.

go for it

Probably not a good choice for the vicinity of swimming pools

I think we need to know how far back from the pool edge this hedge is envisaged.

I llike yews for hedge we just planted a whole row of them in full sun and already they are growing well. You can keep them trimmed at any height with a yearly trim. I like them because they are evergreen . BTW the hedge where I live does not take the place of a locking poolfence .

Don’t the flowers in privet attract bees? And for folks with allergies, it’s a nightmare. And, what about the berries - and when birds eat the berries and now there‘s bird droppings all over your pool area. Seems there are several kinds of privet & the Chinese Privet is the worst. Good info at this link Privet - the good, the bad, the ugly

Thank you all for your thoughts and ideas -- all informative, and some entertaining! I really appreciate it. After researching and considering the options, including what is suited to my zone and conditions, what is easily available to me in my area, and cost, I have gone ahead and am giving privet a go. I do love inkberry/Japanese holly, but that hedge cost would have been double or more the expense of the privet. The newly planted privet hedge is set back from the border of the pool about 5-1/2. My hope is to grow a healthy, dense hedge and keep it at about 4-1/2 feet in height. I now must become as knowledgeable as possible on growing and pruning privet! Thank you again. :)

We are also on Long Island and privet is iconic here on the East End. We have a circular privet hedge outlining our pool area--it's probably at least 20 fee from the edge of the pool and is a wonderful screen. You need to keep it trimmed--at least once or twice a year to allow it to grow nice and lush and full. The flowers are so sweet smelling in June, and we really don't have a bee problem. We had way more bees from abelia and some of the perennials like nepeta and lavendar. So go ahead and enjoy!

This photo was taken before the first trim of the season.

IMG_0568.JPG · More Info

Beautiful!! Thank you!!