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Family description Ligustrum.

Privet is one of the most neglected and abused plants in the garden, yet is the most useful. While this plant can be grown as a small tree or large shrub to fill a large border, it is most often used as a traditional suburban hedge. Once, most town houses were hedged with Privet, either green or golden, and gardeners took great pride with the neat edges. That was in the days of hedge shears, when clipping a hedge was hard work, but the ready availability of powered hedge cutters has bred a generation of imbeciles that no longer care what mess they make. If allowed to grow naturally as a shrub, Privet will be covered with creamy-white flowers during June/July.

General care.

As would be expected, most of the care for this plant is the regular summer clipping to keep the hedge neat and tidy. You can put this task off until it becomes an arduous chore, or make a regular habit of clipping it every couple of weeks or so. The best hedges require clipping once a week during the growing season, but now we are talking quality. Once the autumn leaves have been gathered up, take a little time to clear all the rubbish from underneath the base of the hedge, and feed with a generous helping of a slow acting fertilizer such as bone meal. There are a few pests to watch out for. Aphids may be troublesome, particularly on the golden varieties, but they rarely cause any harm. Privet is also the primary food plant for the caterpillars of the Privet Hawk Moth. These are very large caterpillars, capable of eating a lot of leaves, but normally only affect untidy and uncut hedges. During dry spells, the hedge may become stressed if deprived of water. When watering the garden, make sure the base of the gets a fair sprinkle too.

Notes on Toxicity or Culinary usage.

Various parts of the plant produce different coloured dyes with colours including yellow, green and black. Berries also used as ink. The hard wood is used for turning small objects.

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Species description. Ligustrum vulgare.

Once the pride of every householder the Privet hedges can be made into works of art or maintained to a high standard but sadly fewer people care nowadays.

Display characteristics for Ligustrum vulgare.

• Plant type: Dicotyledon. Evergreen
• Habit: Rounded
• Type: Shrub.
• Height: 3.00 mtr.
• Spread: 3.00 mtr.
• Attractive to wildlife: None
• Preferred soil type: Clay. Chalk. Gravel. Loam. Sand. Silt. Peat.
• Soil moisture requirement: Medium
• Soil ph: Undefined
• Suitable position: Open ground. Border. Container. Exposed.
• Light requirements: Full sun. Part sun.
• Summer water requirements: Low
• Winter water requirements: None
• Minimum temperature: -20 °c
• Safe Minimum temperature: -8 °c
• Safe Maximum temperature: 30 °c
• Maximum temperature: 0 °c
• Wind tolerance: High
• Salt tolerance: Medium
• Drought tolerance: Medium
• Waterlogging tolerance: Low
• Toxicity-Edibility: Minor illness possible
• Bloom attributes: Fragrant flower.
• Foliage attributes: Showy display. Produces dye.
• Berry attributes: Produces dye. Attracts wildlife.
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