Hedges Drop Green Leaves and Die
Gardennewb
Posts: 2
Hi all! I wanted to put the question out there because I am stumped. When I moved into my house there was hardly any vegetation on the property. 5 years ago I planted about 80 feet of privet hedges. Over these years I've had to replace more than half. They are planted and they grow just fine... go into blooming... then from out of nowhere the green leaves drop and the plant dies. All that remains is the branch. So disheartning 
I live in the Los Angeles foothills. It's hot and we have rocky soil.
My question is could they be dying because there is not enough vegetation around? I planted these and put sprinklers but there's not much around them .
Is this just the wrong type of plant to be growing in my hot and dry environment? I thought these plants were pretty tolerant.
Has anyone out there seen this before???
Posts
Hi Gardenweb, I'm not too sure which type of privet you have but I had a similar issue years back but my one was more likely wind damage and I didn't plant it out and left it in a pot. Is that spot very exposed? I should imagine if they're very young plants, they may need early protection from wind and hot drying sun. In England, I notice many thrive amongst much taller shrubs or near a wall. From the photgraphs, it looks very dry and sandy.
That's disappointing for sure. There is a lot of greenery behind them, taking much moisture and nutrients from the soil. When small you may provide them with enough water, but when it's hot, maybe it's just not enough. Which is why they fail when they get to a decent size. Hasn't most of California had a very very long drought? That may have also had a contributory factor too. They probably thrive in England as its cooler and wetter than LA. Just a thought Are they on the top of a bank, or does the ground fall away behind them? The raised portion would be dryer than the lower portion, which is great if you want drainage, but for moisture retention it doesn't help much. Have you put a mulch of something on the top of the soil after a good soaking? Would help to stop the evaporation of the water
Borderline...interesting comment because we have terrible winds Here called the Santa Anas. We did a have some a few weeks ago right before the last batch of victims went. These are privet ovalifolium aka CA privets... which makes this defeat so much more painful. They are all over my neighborhood
I have hedge envy 
Daffygardner there is an olive grove next door. I built the dirt and rocks around the hedges to keep the water from running. I do think I will try to add mulch.
I think dryness has a lot to do with this, but the hedge does not get brown which I thought would have been an indicator of this.
So they suddenly just drop their leaves without turning brown first? Sorry have just re-read your first post, yes they do. Is it the plants in the same spot you are loosing? Or have they been different plants along the hedgeline.
Has the soil prep been ok? Sorry if this sounds awful, but did you put them into just soil or was into soil that has been improved with water retaining compost, etc,
am not surprised you have hedge envy after all of your efforts and expense too. It should be glorious after all of this. Is there a barrier on the other side to protect or buffer the winds? Opposite this hedge I mean, out of the picture. A hedge or fence will buffer the wind for about 10x it's height in length.
Maybe you need a combination of more water, a bit of protection and a mulch? Is there a soak hose you can use rather than a sprinkler?
Hi Gardenweb, so basically over the years, they have been dropping leaves and you have had to replace them again? I know this is odd, but when you say there are other hedges near your neigbourhood, are they the same exact Privet? Always an indicator or natural surrounding soil, if your neighbours can grow their same hedges well then it can't always be the soil.
However, when you mentioned re-planting them, I'm assuming they don't thrive again? This sounds like something going on with the soil? Have you out in enough prep work on the soil base when you planted them in and made sure they are well heeled in and as Daffygardener mentions, sprinking is not really the best option for shrub-like plants. It needs hosing directly into the root areas. On some of your pictures, not sure what the background shrub is but it does seem to be very tall and almost over-hanging the privet border. Could they be taking all the water and nutrients. Your pictures don't show any signs of disease, but definitely stress on the plants, that is why they shed their leaves from time to time, but I think the base needs more mulch, it really looks quite sandy, and as you say windy and hot.
They grow best with plenty of water available to them. Other vegetation will deprive them of that, and as you don't have high rainfall where you are, that makes it difficult Wind is incredibly drying too. I think it's a question of right plant, right place, and privet isn't going to be happy in that location for you, unfortunately. If you're going to use a mulch, you'll have to thoroughly soak the ground first - might take you a while! If you can get your hands on some well rotted manure, that would be ideal.
It grows best in high rainfall - even in the cold, soggy ground that we have up here in Scotland. It's almost evergreen here because of it.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...