On Sun, 22 Mar 2015 10:22:19 -0400, songbird
wrote:

micky wrote:

I have 5 privet bushes, in a U formation, which originally formed a
hedge, but they've been mistrimmed, especially the one in the middle.
It won't grow big enough to reach the ones next to it.

I'd like to dig that one up and plant a new one, which I figure will
eventually grow big enough.

if the U formation is too narrow it may not be
an issue that replanting with a taller plant can

I'm going to replant with a baby plant, whatever size they sell a privet
bush, the same species that is there now I hope. (I have the label that
was on one of the original bushes) I'm sure that's not 7 feet high.
When I bought the house the bushes were 4 years or less and they were
about 4 feet high, so I'm figuring the new one will be 2 feet or less.
I'll have to wait until it grows wider and taller.

correct. all the work you may do may end up with
the same result.

The U is fine. Everything was fine before the bad trimming. The bad
trimming was the work of a series of landscaping companies gone mad, or
incompetent. not hired by me or under my supervision. It's a
complicated story, which I'll be glad to tell if anyone is interested.

if on the other hand there really is enough
room and the orientation isn't wrong for the
climate and light fall, it probably would be
faster to trim the neighboring plants to slope
down to the shorter plant so it can get enough
light to grow taller.

It does get enough light and it's tall enough. It's not wide enough.
That's what I meant when I said it's not big enough to reach the ones
next to it. It's been trimmed to be narrow too many times and it's not
growing any wider, because the branches that are there where I want the
plant to grow wider (branches up to four feet high), have been trimmed
back too many times, and they don't try anymore. That's possible, isn't
it?

read up on pruning privet hedges properly
and don't let some hack do it without supervision.

When I was doing the pruning, everything was fine except they were
getting too tall. (that won't happen again.) Then someone, without my
permission, told the landscape companies to do the pruning. Most of the
damage was done by them that first day,

After I plant the new bush, I'll go back to doing the pruinng myself.


So, how much of the previous, tall and once wide privet bush roots do I
have to remove to plant a new one in the same place and not have roots
that are no longer used but impede the growth of new roots as much as
rocks would? Or would they dry and shrink or rot so quickly they're
not a problem?

songbird

Thanks and thanks Norminn.