New Privet Hedge

randomguy

Hi all,

A novice gardener here. I have just posted about project number 1 (the lawn) but am also looking for advice on project no. 2, the hedge out front.

I planted a privet hedge from pots a few weeks ago, about 3 feet tall, 3 per metre in a trench, a decent distance from wall, in what I was told is good soil, and have watered it a few times since.

Some of the plants went purple in the frost a few weeks ago, and a fair few of the others seem to have lost a lot of leaves.

IMG_20181122_110830__01.jpg
IMG_20181122_110837__01.jpg


Are they just reacting to the winter, or is my hedge doomed? Is there anything I should do now, or in spring, to try to help it prosper?

The long term hope was to grow a 6 foot privet hedge, to match the neighbours, for a bit of privacy in the front of the house.

macraignil

randomguy wrote: »

Hi all,

A novice gardener here. I have just posted about project number 1 (the lawn) but am also looking for advice on project no. 2, the hedge out front.

I planted a privet hedge from pots a few weeks ago, about 3 feet tall, 3 per metre in a trench, a decent distance from wall, in what I was told is good soil, and have watered it a few times since.

Some of the plants went purple in the frost a few weeks ago, and a fair few of the others seem to have lost a lot of leaves.

IMG_20181122_110830__01.jpg
IMG_20181122_110837__01.jpg


Are they just reacting to the winter, or is my hedge doomed? Is there anything I should do now, or in spring, to try to help it prosper?

The long term hope was to grow a 6 foot privet hedge, to match the neighbours, for a bit of privacy in the front of the house.

It's hard to tell after just a few weeks what is the long term future for your hedge. The plants do look unhealthy and Privet is normally evergreen so would not usually loose most of its leaves in winter. Where they kept somewhere warm before planting out or where the pots left to dry out?

It appears that something has given the young plants a shock and weather or not it will kill them depends on what that was. Privet generally is fairly robust so most likely they will recover and grow away without trouble once they have settled in their new position. If the soil is moist there should be no need to water as this will be done naturally by the rain at this time of year. Extra watering of soil that is already wet could cause more trouble and in my opinion should be avoided at this stage. Some of the leaves look brown and possibly diseased so extra water could make this worse. At that planting distance you can afford to loose some plants and still have plenty to make a good hedge so best thing to do at this stage is just give it more time. Most likely thing will be that it will be growing healthy by next Summer without any interference.

Here is a video clip of my own privet shrub flowering after being planted a couple of years back and it is over a metre wide on its own since I had not trimmed it at all. In fact I just trimmed a couple of side branches off it earlier today to keep it some way contained.

standardg60

Nothing to worry about that I can see. Technically privet is only semi-evergreen and will defoliate in cold areas or harsh winters, especially the golden one which this looks like. I would also leave those other leaves which have fallen amongst them, as they'll provide a bit of insulation for the roots and also break down to feed the soil.

randomguy

Thanks for the advice.

I planted them the day I bought them, but the nursery might have had them somewhere warm waiting for collection. And the first frost of the year did hit within days.

I suppose the main thing to do for the moment is wait and see. I actually don't know if it is golden privet, or just regular privet, so have to wait and see for that too!

standardg60

randomguy wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.

I planted them the day I bought them, but the nursery might have had them somewhere warm waiting for collection. And the first frost of the year did hit within days.

I suppose the main thing to do for the moment is wait and see. I actually don't know if it is golden privet, or just regular privet, so have to wait and see for that too!

Most likely they were in a polytunnel and the leaves were a bit soft.
Anyway won't affect them in the long run.

patrickdoc1959

As mentioned previously privet Is only semi evergreen and this can be very common in first year in particular unlikely to be anything to be worried about to be honest

randomguy

Thanks for the advice (I don't know how to quote, but thanks to all who said the best thing to do was do nothing). Lots of buds appeared over the last months, and it looks very much alive. (ignore the weeds in the pic!)

randomguy

Six months after being planted, the hedge is growing nicely now - see pic. I am (slowly) learning that patience is the most important element of gardening.

The long term aim is to get the hedge to around 6 feet high and decent thickness to give privacy. The plants are currently quite thin. I don't mind if it is not thick at the base, since there is a wall there, but when it grows above the wall I want the top half of the hedge to be thick. I haven't pruned it yet.

Would it make sense not to prune it for the moment, and then prune it to encourage it to thicken in late autumn? And if so should I cut it right back (cut main stalks back by half?) or just take a little bit off the top? How do I balance getting it thick and wanting a decent hedge as soon as possible?

Lumen

I wouldn't get too stressed, for a couple of reasons.

1. Bareness low down isn't really a problem cos there's a wall there and you have other things planted which will benefit from the light.
2. Privet responds well to hard pruning, so if you did nothing you could still rescue it later.

However, I reckon it might be an idea to take off the top third (with sharp secateurs) and see how it responds.

standardg60

Don't do anything with it now as it's only it's first year and it needs every leaf to establish.
Around end of September you can give it a trim, start with the branches growing directly away from the wall, shorten any back until they support their own weight ie not drooping.
Start at the bottom and as you work up shorten each branch in further than the one below so the hedge slants towards the wall, this both allows light to reach the bottom branches and ensures the hedge won't be top heavy over time.
Then reduce the height of the hedge until the branches are sturdy in order to support next years growth.