In article , Jangchub
wrote:

Privet is not a tree.

Pretty obviously symptomless's notions of treating a hedge row like a tree
is as usual worthless advice, and that lame generic page he spams
newsgroups about wouldn't be much use even if the questioner HAD been
asking how to trim privet trees.

Nevertheless, Ligustrum vulgare or lucidum can grow to thirty feet in
height, really fast growing aggressive trees and environmentally harmful
in some places, having in New Zealand for example begun to displace entire
forest ecosystems.

In the long run they're actually ROTTEN "shrubs" for hedging because they
want to be big, and when aggressively trimmed to force them to stay small
won't flower much if at all and get uglier and ugler as the branches
thicken into trucks with fewer and fewer leaves. Common choices yeah, but
crap, and really ought to be banned before naturalizing in even more
forests.

The Chinese privet is a bit easier to keep hedged if one must try it but
even that would rather be eight or twelve feet tall. And the Londense
privet (Ligustrum vulgare lodense) and Nanum privet (L. japonicum)
supposed to stay naturally small (under six feet even if never trimmed and
easily kept at four). But those aren't usually the "garden departments"
cheapies and its the common privet that gets poorly chosen for the
purpose.

-paghat the ratgirl


On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:49:48 -0400, "symplastless"
wrote:

Good question. pruning information he

Many tree problems are associated with the following: They are Case
Sensitive.

Pruning
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning

Some people just use hedge trimmers. Thought you might desire targeted
information.

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Forester & Tree Expert
www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

"ajax" wrote in message
...

Hi folks - first-time poster here with some pretty simple questions I'm
sure, so please be kind!

I grew up in a hot and dry climate and so I'm pretty clueless when it
comes to caring for and hedges.

At the place where my front garden where it meets the pavement, I
planted a row of privet hedge plants last September. They are spaced
out about 18 inches apart and are about five feet tall and still quite
young, but have begun to sprout lots of little leaves over the past few
weeks (of course).

As they have now started to grow, I have some questions about how to
prune the plants so that they grow into the shape I want. Can you help
me?

I want the plants to grow about 6-8 inches taller than they are now,
and I also want them to "flesh out" a bit more. Little sprouts are
starting to stick up. Should I trim them now or should I let them grow
more?

How often should I trim privet hedge during the growing season?

Should I trim the sides as well?

Many thanks for your help and advice!




--
ajax

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