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How old is my privet hedge?!

hello_anna7hello_anna7 Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Is it possible to determine the age of privet hedges? 
My son was asking if carbon13 dating could be used and I thought that a brainy person on here might be able to shed some light on it.  I believe that the hedge could be 'ligustrum lucidum chinese privet'.
I suspect that the hedge was planted in the 1930s, and it's still going strong!
Thanks in advance if you can help solve this puzzle.

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    How old is your house? Privet hedges were de riguer in the 1930s / 40s
    I doubt carbon dating would be necessary.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • JAC51JAC51 Posts: 175
    hi @hello_anna7 my house was built in the 1930’s and I too have a privet hedge out the front. My house is one of ten and only three of us still have the hedge...but mine is definitely the largest.  The birds love it and it does a great job of shielding us from the bus stop opposite!

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    We had a privet hedge along the front garden where I was born in London, I’ve googled, it’s still there, my earliest memories are of this hedge with the gorgeous smell of the flowers, that was 70 years ago.  I know it was there in 1940, but probably before that. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    You can prune out older stems to keep it renewing, so I would say it's pretty hard to date the original planting. You could try to find pictures of the street going back through the decades or track down previous owners and ask them.
  • Mrs-B3-Southampton,-HantsMrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants Posts: 732
    There's a photo of us 4 children in the front garden when the hedge was about 2 ft high. I'm guessing I was 2/3 yrs old so that makes it 68 yrs old at least. It's still there and in good nick. 
    Southampton 
  • hello_anna7hello_anna7 Posts: 2
    Thank you everyone - I think my son (aspiring scientist age 12) was hoping that there was a scientific test that he could do to to confirm the year.  Thanks to all who answered.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I think carbon dating tells you when something died, ie when it stopped taking in new carbon and incorporating it into its tissues. There's a certain percentage  of the carbon in a living thing that is carbon 14 during life and it gradually decays after death to the stable carbon isotopes, so scientists can work out how long it is since something died by measuring how much carbon 14 is left. More info here if your son is interested (but it's not something that you can do at home).
    My house is around 70 years old and my guess is that the privet hedge is just a bit younger than that.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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