Green Privet Hedging Plants

• Variety: Green Privet, the fast, clipped hedge for towns, shade and poor soil
• Common name: Green Privet, Garden Privet
• Latin name: Ligustrum ovalifolium
• Sold as: Bareroot hedge plants, 40/60cm and 60/80cm tall. Pot-grown in a 2 litre pot
• Plants per metre: 3 in a single row
• Height: A formal hedge, clipped to the height you want
• Growth rate: Fast
• Type: Semi-evergreen: it keeps its leaves through most winters and drops some in a hard one
• UK native: No. It comes from Japan
• Thorny: No
• Flowers: White and fragrant in midsummer, where the hedge is left unclipped
• Best soil and site: Any soil that is not waterlogged, poor and compacted soil included. Sun or partial shade. Takes roadside pollution
• Hardiness: H4, hardy through an average winter
• Wildlife value: RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Trim: Two or three times in the growing season, stopping in late summer
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Pot-grown, all year when in stock. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Green Privet, Ligustrum ovalifolium, is a fast growing, semi-evergreen hedge plant that clips into a neat, formal hedge. It grows in sun or partial shade on poor, compacted soil and beside busy roads, and objects only to waterlogged ground.

Green Privet Hedging Plants

Green Privet makes a tough and resilient semi-evergreen hedge plant that can grow to 4 metres if left to its own devices and it does it super efficiently. It grows quickly, clips neatly and manages to flourish even in poor, compacted soil or when in the shade. All this makes it the most popular member of our range of privet hedging. It seems to be oblivious to pollution and so is perfectly happy next to a busy road, occluding street lights. As a result, it's THE most valuable hedge for that tricky combination of an urban area and poor soil. The only thing that Green Privet doesn't enjoy is being waterlogged so make sure that you give it decent drainage. The leaves are small, oval-shaped and slightly pointed at the end. They're a matt green, uniform in colour and knit together to make a lovely, luxurious hedge that will fill a gap or form a boundary in no time at all. In about July the plant is swathed in long, sweet-smelling, white flowers. If neglected, green privet can be rejuvenated by hard pruning back down to the ground from where it'll rise, phoenix-like, over the next couple of seasons. In a very hard and frosty winter, green privet may lose its leaves but soon recovers them once spring arrives.

Garden Design Ideas

Ligustrum ovalifolium makes an excellent boundary hedge, especially where you want protection from traffic noise and light (not to mention the odd passer by) all year round. It grows fast and so will quickly screen out an unsightly low building or wooden fence. Because it's so tough you can plant privet where you may have despaired of ever being able to do better than bare soil. If you are growing it where there is some light then add in a bit of Rosa Rugosa, another tough hedging plant that will produce pink or white flowers in the summer and handsome hips in the autumn. And while you are planting your hedge, add a few clumps of Narcissi at the edge of the trench to bring some spring cheer (it also saves you digging twice). For the more artistic, you can also do some pretty fancy topiary with privet. Generally, the long hedge clipped in the form of a dragon or a reclining lady is made from Green privet.

History & Trivia

Green privet is a Japanese plant that was introduced to Britain in 1885. The Victorians fell in love with it because it grew happily in their polluted, smoggy inner cities. Birds love the berries in autumn and it's a stick insect's essential diet in the UK.

Planting Companions

Golden Privet is the same hedge with yellow-edged leaves, for colour in a sunny spot. Where you want a taller formal hedge and the soil is decent, Beech is the deciduous alternative. The true evergreens are under evergreen hedging. Dust the roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Buy Hedging from Ashridge

Hedging is not a sideline here: your Privet is grown for us as hedging from the outset by specialist growers. Bareroot plants are lifted to order while dormant and guaranteed for 12 months. Ashridge Nurseries holds the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Green Privet evergreen?

Semi-evergreen. It keeps most of its leaves through a normal winter and drops some in a hard one, then leafs up again in spring.

How many Privet plants do I need per metre?

Three per metre, 33cm apart, in a single row. Measure the run, multiply by three and add a few spares.

Will Privet grow in shade?

Better than almost anything else we sell. It also takes poor, compacted soil and traffic fumes, which is why it became the standard town hedge. It will not take waterlogging.

How often should I trim a Privet hedge?

Two or three times through the growing season, the RHS advises, stopping in late summer so that soft new growth is not caught by frost. It grows fast, so it needs it.

Can I cut an overgrown Privet hedge back hard?

Yes. Privet regrows from old wood, even when cut almost to the ground, which most hedge plants will not do. It recovers over the next couple of seasons.

Is Privet hardy enough for a cold garden?

The RHS rates it H4, hardy through an average winter. On a cold, exposed inland site a hard winter can cut it back, and Beech is the safer choice there.