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Landscape Design Shrubs Garden Clinic

How much should a newly planted privet hedge be cut back?

3 years ago

I just planted a hedge of California privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) along the fence around our pool. The individual plants are about 5-6 feet tall and we planted them about 18 inches apart. I've seen a fair share of scraggly privet hedges -- something I want to avoid. I'd like to do whatever I can to grow a healthy, dense hedge. I've found a lot of basic information on year-to-year care, but not about how much the first cut back should be after planting a new hedge. The most extreme information I've heard was from a Cornell Cooperative Extension representative who said I should cut the newly planted 5-6 feet tall bushes back to 6-12 inches in height(!), that this is the only way to promote thick growth from the bottom up, and that there's no going back if I don't do this now. Any privet experts out there who can opine on this?? How much should I cut back the newly planted hedge? I'd love to become a bit of an expert on California privet so that I can grow a handsome, dense hedge. Any helpful tips and/or referrals to books or other resources will be much appreciated!!

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
every leaf is an energy making machine .. to grow a mature root mass .. so you can cut on them all you want ...

imo.. if you cut off the energy making machines.. on NEWLY PLANTED plants ... then you will set back root establishment ... and the ultimate achievement of your goal ... which i presume is a sight line block.. not just random pruning ...

whats your hurry ...

water properly and then we can think about severe pruning in fall .. maybe ..

you didnt tell us where you are.. big city name .. i suppose i could guess CA based on plant choice.. but ive been burned before on guessing ...

and i dont really think you need to be focusing on info exactly specific to your plants ... this would be general transplanting protocol ...

gardening is an art ... you seem to be wanting to make it a science ...

there is little instant gratification in nature.. unless you put up a wall... and thats not ma nature ...

ken

ps: one might think would want to become a holly expert. .. lol .. but whatever ...
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years ago
"gardening is an art ... you seem to be wanting to make it a science ..."

Garden or landscape design is an art.........the actual growing of a garden is entirely science!!

But I would agree that you do not want to do any serious pruning yet. You need to allow time for the plants to become established. Hard pruning is best done in late winter just before any new growth develops. You do not need to be very radical or severe in approach - I wouldn't take back more than 1/3 - but you will want to focus on shaping, making sure the base of the shrub is slightly wider than the top....sort of an 'A'-line shape.

After any initial hard prune, a light shearing a couple times a season (May - August) will help to keep things tidy and encourage dense growth. But that needs to wait until after the plants are properly established. Creating a thick, dense hedge doesn't happen all at once. It will take a few growing seasons before it matches your expectations.
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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.
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Comments (2)
Privets are pretty tough cookies, and even if you sheared them to the ground, they would probably start sending more shoots up. They also grow fairly fast. Since you are not growing them for their flowers, you can prune in June, and again in late August. Twice a year should do it. When you achieve the desired height and width, just keep pruning to that shape. Basically, the more you prune, the denser the hedge will get. If you want to get some more Privets going for the ones which died, just propagate a stem cutting. They will root easily in a pot in one season - maybe less - and you'll be able to fill-in those gaps. Nicole.
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No stakes, because you need to prune those silly branches off. Don't you think that they look wrong? That is the fault of a lazy grower, who should have taken the five seconds required to properly prune the shrubs. They will never fill out to a uniform shape without pruning. But you will be very happy with these malformed shrubs as you watch them grow like crazy after the pruning. These plants can grow two to three feet the first year after planting. My advice is to take your hand pruner and snip only those few errant branches. Don't attack the shrubs with loppers.
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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.
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lindac92
3 years ago
Once the plants are established and growing well, prune half the new growth. That time might come in June of 2022.

And remember to keep and hedge type of plant from getting leggy and scant at the bottom, always prune/shape narrower at the top than at the bottom, so sunlight gets to the bottom leaves.
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