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Have i missed the boat, privet pruning

PrivetmissionPrivetmission Posts: 1
in Plants
So, i've set myself a task of trying to get the privet (what i believe to be anyway, happy to be corrected 😅) out the front to start looking like a hedge again.

Last year I pulled all of the ivy out and was anticipating clearing the rest of the dead branches, weeds underneath and quite harshly pruning one side and the top in the dormant season in the hopes it would start looking better, BUT, with the pretty mild weather, it appears its started shooting buds already.

So, for the question, am i good to still give it a quite a hard prune on one side and the top? Or due the the growth, will this cause more harm than good?

Or to spin the question another way, if you were in my shoes, how best would you tackle it? 


2 close up pictures are from today, showing the growth
4 pictures showing the hedge are from mid jan '24




Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    No problem to prune it now - privet isn't fussy (and yes, it is privet). If you do it now it'll put all that new-growth energy into new shoots from just below where you cut.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited 16 February
    I agree with @JennyJ … providing there’s no birds nesting in it there’s no problem with cutting it back now. 

    I would take at least a couple of feet off the top (it’ll grow again😊) and trim the sides on a slope so that it’s wider at the bottom that the top.  Like an ‘A’ shape … this will get more light to the buds at the bottom and encourage them to produce leaves so that your hedge is green right to the bottom and doesn’t have ‘bare legs’. 




    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Privet is tough as old boots so you certainly won't damage it by pruning it hard.  I would do it before it gets much leaf growth as it's easier to see what you are doing and there is no risk of birds starting to nest in it.
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