Hi Fairygirl, they are not normally evergreen but in more sheltered sites, and not managed, they can turn into shrubs. But looking at the second set of photos, I'm not so sure. Really need a more close up of one or two leaves to be more sure what it is. I agree that Privet fits the bill the most. It would be ideal to know for sure to advise on whether the poster needs to even buy more 'faster' growing shrubs.
If healthy and established, the shrub will in time put out new growth that will most likely be faster than any new shrub that may fail due to the heavy roots around the base. I personally think to leave the shrub alone for 6-8 months to see how it responds.
The issue is, if the shrub had received inconsistent pruning in the past, some areas will be full of gaps whilst other areas are bushy. This is often revealed if they suddenly prune a bit further in. I suspect this is what's happened. The only way to correct this is to prune hard and wait. Then continue to prune back every year to build it back.
The other issue is Ivy growing around it will smother areas causing it to die back due to lack of sun. Mix hedging works, but only if both or more shrubs thrive in similar surroundings growing at similar rates. Ivy is too dominant with a shrub like Privet. The poster may need to think about that too.
I think it's just one of those situations where a bit of hacking and some TLC [in equal measure] are required, and generally speaking, there'll be a good outcome @Borderline I agree about the ivy too.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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It's not something that would survive here, so I'm not familiar with it.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If healthy and established, the shrub will in time put out new growth that will most likely be faster than any new shrub that may fail due to the heavy roots around the base. I personally think to leave the shrub alone for 6-8 months to see how it responds.
The issue is, if the shrub had received inconsistent pruning in the past, some areas will be full of gaps whilst other areas are bushy. This is often revealed if they suddenly prune a bit further in. I suspect this is what's happened. The only way to correct this is to prune hard and wait. Then continue to prune back every year to build it back.
The other issue is Ivy growing around it will smother areas causing it to die back due to lack of sun. Mix hedging works, but only if both or more shrubs thrive in similar surroundings growing at similar rates. Ivy is too dominant with a shrub like Privet. The poster may need to think about that too.
I agree about the ivy too.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...