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Ligustrum Jonandrum Pom Pom
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Posts: 3
Hi I have three of these beautiful plants/trees - up until a year ago they were planted in a big raised trough but in October 2022 they were transferred to three individual pots as seen in the photo. One of them looks like it’s dying. The other two seem okish. The one that looks like it’s dying was in full beautiful bloom during the Summer months this year too. It’s really strange! Can you advise - is it possible for me to save it by repotting it or is it too late? I have also included a picture of the healthy one just for comparison. Although the top of that one looks like it’s also dying now 
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If you lift one of the plants out of the pots now, you can check whether the soil is wet at the base, there may also be a smell like rotten eggs. In summer when the plants were actively growing and loosing water from their leaves they would have been less likely to show these symptoms, unless they were suffering from drought.
Privet likes plenty of water, so it wouldn't have been a big problem through summer, as it would have been enough to service them without getting waterlogged, but once the atmosphere is damper and cooler, any rain getting in has nowhere to go, the plant won't be absorbing it quickly enough, and there won't be as much evaporation. A more solid plant would have shown signs of stress sooner [dehydration rather than waterlogging], as any rain would have struggled to get in to the roots at all, whereas those are gappy due to the pruning, so it's more obvious now. Unfortunately, both extremes can result in the same symptoms
If you dug them up from another planter, it's even more important to ensure they have enough moisture, enough drainage, and enough soil/nutrients. A pot is totally different from open ground, so your privet will need far more attention because of that. Compost alone won't be any good long term, and there also isn't a lot of room in those pots for a bigger root system as they grow, so you may need to take them out now and again and root prune them, or get bigger containers at some point.
The soil level is also very low, so take them out, make holes in the pots, and replant so that the level of the base of the plants [where the trunk meets the soil] is near the top of the pot. An inch or so of the pot wall is about the most that should be showing.
If you can't make holes in those, you'll need to get new ones. The good thing is that privet is pretty sturdy, so if you can sort that, they should recover by spring.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
there is one hole in the bottom of each of the pots but I will do as you say and buy bigger pots and trim the roots and repot in bigger with better drainage and the compost you suggest at a higher level. I can’t bear the thought of them dying. Thanks everyone again 🙏🏻
At the same time, get a loam/soil based compost, not a multi purpose type. Anything staying in a pot long term needs soil as the main component. You'll find ones which say John Innes - they're the right thing to go for. There's different types, but one which suits shrubs is the sort to go for. Alternatively, you can buy top soil, and mix that with any compost you have to get a better mix.
You may still have to review how you keep them. As @amancalledgeorge says, they eventually may be too difficult to keep potted, as privet is a fairly vigorous plant. If you can't, or don't want to, plant in the ground, you may have to build something that's much bigger, and will make it easier to support them.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...