Ilex vomitoria (yaupon holly), maybe? The straight species can get huge, but the variety I have in my front garden has stayed a consistent ~5' tall and wide without any pruning. It does, however, take well to pruning and shaping if desired.
Privet will come back into fashion ... just as dahlias and chrysanthemums have ... remember when no one with any sense of style would have either in their gardens? Now look at 'em .........
Privet became popular for hedges because it's so very good at doing the job 👍
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Exactly so @Dovefromabove . We do get people whose privet is dying off, but I'm guessing those are often very old hedges. I reckon mine was planted shortly after the house was built (1950-ish), when we moved here in 1988 it had been neglected and was like a row of trees, we cut it back hard over two years and now I keep it at about 5 feet high and maybe 18 inches wide at the top (wider at the base for sloping sides).
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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Privet became popular for hedges because it's so very good at doing the job 👍
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.