Green Privet Hedging Plants

Privet hedges are fast growing and quick to establish. Green and Golden Privet will form a tall, dense, semi-evergreen hedge relatively quickly, they will grow well in most locations and are easy to maintain.

The privet hedges that we grow using Ligustrum Ovalifolium (Oval Leaved Privet) are semi evergreen. They will generally hold most of their leaves through the Winter except in exposed locations or during very cold and windy winters. If you live in a sheltered spot with lots of houses or trees around you then there is a good chance the privet plants will hold their leaves through the Winter.

Green Privet hedges will grow at around 40-60cm per year on average. On the nursery, we trim the privet hedging plants quite hard in the early stages to thicken them up. This does add to the time it takes for the Privet Hedges to get up to size, but will be worth it in the long run as the hedge will be much fuller and provide a better barrier for wind, noise and privacy. The speed of growth will also vary depending on things such as how well the ground is prepared prior to planting, whether the planting site has been sufficiently decompacted. Have the privet plants been planted correctly and subsequent aftercare, feeding and watering of the plants.

Privet Hedges can grow up to 4 metres high and potentially over this if conditions are favourable and they are left unchecked. Typically, they tend to grow up to around 3 or 4 metres high when maintained as a hedge. However, a privet hedge can be kept much lower than this if required. A privet hedge can be maintained from around one metre upwards.

The spacing of plants in a Privet hedge really is dependent on the size of plants that are being planted as well as the time you are prepared to wait for the hedge to grow and also budget restraints. If using our 10 litre potted Privet hedging plants, then we would recommend planting at 3 or 4 plants per metre. We use 4 plants per metre for our Instant Privet hedge grown in 90 litre troughs. This way the plants are just about touching when planted, so giving them space to grow into, but not too much that you are left with big gaps in the hedge. We give a recommendation of the planting density for each plant size on the website. Our recommendations are based on planting at a density that the hedging plants will touch after 1 full growing season. This is only a guideline and please use more plants to reduce this timescale or less plants per metre if you have time to wait.

Most of the Hedging plants that we sell will require the same planting procedures. We give advice on how to plant a hedge here on our website. https://hedginguk.com/hedging-advice/how-to-plant-a-hedge/

In the UK, we recommend trimming a privet hedge at least once a year. Preferably two if you want a more formal looking hedge. The trimming is best carried out in early Spring and with a second trim in the Summer.

A privet hedge will tolerate hard pruning if the hedge has grown too wide or taller than desired. Hard pruning is best carried out in late Winter before the new growth starts to come through. If undertaking a very hard prune, (back to the main stems) then we would recommend to just do one side of the hedge in one season and the other side of the hedge the following season. This will limit the amount of stress imposed on the plants at any one time whilst also leaving some cover on the remaining side retaining some privacy and protection whilst the hard pruned side recovers.

A privet hedge is easily cut or trimmed using hedge trimmers. Hedge trimmers are perfect for the job. On the nursery, when trimming hedges we put sheeting down to collect the privet clippings as they drop whilst trimming. The privet hedge trimming can then easily be transferred to a waste bin or compost site etc.

We would recommend at least one annual feed for your Privet hedge. Slow releasing feeds are generally considered best as they provide a steady release of nutrients over a longer period of time. The best time to feed a Privet hedge is in the Spring just as the new leaves come through. On the nursery we would follow this up with a late Spring feed and also at least one in the summer.

Green Privet hedges will grow just about anywhere, making them very popular. Privet hedges will grow in most soils with the exception of waterlogged or very wet sites. Privet hedges will grow in the shade and will also tolerate poor soils and dry and sandy sites.

Privet hedges are relatively easy to maintain. As discussed above it is much quicker to clear up all the cuttings from your privet hedge if sheeting is put down prior to trimming to catch the cuttings. This is the process we use on the nursery and we may trim our privet hedges up to 3 times a year. Other than trimming its really only an annual feed and ideally a mulch to help retain some moisture and nutrients in our increasingly drier Summers.

If you live in a sheltered location with other properties around you and you aren’t exposed to very cold temperatures in the Winter normally. Then a privet hedge is most likely to retain its foliage through the Winter. If you are very exposed and can be subjected to very cold temperatures and strong winds then a privet hedge is more likely to defoliate through the Winter.

We grow Instant Privet hedges here on the nursery in 90 Litre troughs. They are usually available from 5 foot to 6 foot and above. Our Privet instant hedges have 4 plants per every metre of hedge. The root systems of the 4 plants are all joined together so they are planted as 1 metre of hedge all knitted together.

We grow a range of sizes of green privet hedging plants for sale here on the nursery. We grow potted green privet hedging plants, mainly in 10 litre pots, then we also grow and sell rootballed privet hedging in the Autumn, through to Late Winter/ Early Spring. For more immediate impact, we also grow our Instant Privet Hedges in 90 Litre troughs. The instant hedges come in 1 metre lengths but do require 2 strong people to lift them.

All the Privet hedging plants that we sell are grown outside here on our nursery in Holmeswood, Lancashire producing robust plants that are quick to establish.

The privet plants that we sell for hedging such as Ligustrum Ovalifolium can be toxic to Humans, Livestock and animals if injested. If the hedge to be planted is in the vicinity of livestock, pets or very small children where there is a chance that the foliage or berries of the hedge could be eaten by mistake, then we would suggest planting an alternative species of hedging such as Elaeagnus Ebbingei, Griselinia Littoralis or Photinia Red robin which have no toxic effects reported.