Tall Narrow California Ligustrum (Privet) Hedge



Above, Privet hedge at Huntington Library, San Marino California

 Ligustrum japonicum, or the shorter selection L. japonicum 'Texanum', is the species of Privet typically used in southern California--in other regions the common name "Privet" refers to a different Ligustrum, such as L. vulgare or L. amurense.
Tall, narrow hedges are becoming ever more popular in southern California as lot sizes shrink and the region becomes more crowded.  It seems as though the more people there are, the more we all desire privacy.


Professional growers have recently developed a technique for growing Ligustrum japonicum as tall, narrow, and fast as possible.  Other plants, most famously several species of Ficus, have become notorious for aggressive, pavement-cracking root systems and have thankfully lost favor as hedging plants.  Syzygium (Eugenia) for decades the go-to plant for hedging, is still struggling to recover favor after the Eugenia psyllid devastated so many plants a decade or two ago. Ligustrum is much less bothered by pests, and its root system is far less aggressive than Ficus. 

I first saw this Ligustrum growing method at the Huntington a few years ago, when they installed some Ligustrum hedges as part of remodels.  I saw the hedges, noting how dense yet how narrow they were, then during a grow house visit, saw how the immature plants are trained to grow that dense yet that narrow.
The new growth of Ligustrum japonicum is naturally long, flexible whippy stems when sufficiently watered and encouraged with fertilizer.  Growers use this behavior to to create exactly what nearly everyone in So Cal seems to want:  tall, fast, cheap privacy.

The method is to tie those long whips vertically to a tall stake until the whips mature and harden up.  At that point, they will remain vertical after the stakes are removed.  The result is a hedge that grows taller, narrower, denser and faster than leaving the shrub to develop naturally.
There's a wooden stake under that:
 The whips branch out fairly quickly, producing plants like this:
 This allows landscapers to install a near instant tall privacy screen.  The 15 gallon container sized plants above were over 8' tall.  L. japonicum's natural height is anywhere from two to six meters (6.5' to 20').  Hedge height is ultimately restricted to the height of the maintainer's ladder and reach.


Across the street from the above new hedge, is an older example that probably inspired the planting of the new one.  Within a year or two, developed with several light shearings of side growth branching off the main vertical stems, the hedge becomes a dense privacy screen:
 This hedge is about eight feet tall but only about 30" wide.
Incidentally, I've blogged about this particular property before.  The garden began with a whole lot of Agave vilmoriniana, which bloomed all at once within three years of planting.  I took a peek behind the hedge--the Agaves have been replaced with other succulent plants, and the garden still looks good.  There are still a couple of Agaves, but they have bloomed also.  The residents switched to non-monocarpic Aloes. 
For non-gardeners, a fast, cheap, effective screen like this has high appeal.  The even, rich green provides visual rest in the way that a lawn does, and Ligustrum has fairly low water requirements.  A plant afficianado may prefer a more exotic, unusual, or varied hedge--but a plain, dark green, tough, useful background plant cannot be easily dismissed. 

Comments

  1. I planted a Ligustrum hedge between me and the neighbor when I lived in San Diego a couple hundred years ago. It sure did the trick in a very short time frame, and gave me a sense of enclosure on a very small lot.

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  2. That's great! I don't know from experience, but I have heard that they develop fungus problems up here because of our wet winters. But, given how tall and skinny they can get, I would be very tempted to use it to plant a hedge some time. Privacy is getting more scarce up here too.

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    1. The same technique could be applied to another shrub (more appropriate to your climate) that has that same growth habit.

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  3. One downside to privets is that many people are allergic to the flowers but I guess, if the plants are trimmed with regularity to maintain their shape and size, this can be managed.

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    1. The flowers have that musky smell many people find unpleasant. I sort of got used to the fragrance, though the flowers make me sneeze (but nearly everything makes me sneeze). Mostly the flowers are sheared off, though the shots of the Huntington hedge shows how pretty they can be in the spring. It's always something, eh?

      We got 2.5" here yesterday! Yeee Hawww!

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  4. We set a record in LB of 4 inches. Standing water when I went to bed last night!
    I've got crappy, neglected box hedges in the front that are now probably 8 feet high. I'm terrible at maintaining hedges but love the privacy. Great piece on privet, thanks!

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  5. The box hedge will soon look a lot better with all that rain. :)



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  6. Love the look of trimmed hedges, and it's all to the good if they don't need much ground space. How many times a year does that filled-in one get trimmed?

    But there is a dark side to privet. Just back from weeding down front, where we're trying to add more native layers to the "woodland" (area under mature oaks and sugar maple that we quit mowing 20+ years ago), and privet seedlings are one of the most common of the unwanted plants. A bunch of it got started on a nearby fencerow, bloomed and berried, and apparently the birds' favorite place to rest after snacking is in our trees. The good news is that the first-season seedlings come out easily, and that the neighbor with the privet-ridden fence has agreed to let me try to eradicate the plant. But the bad news is that there's probably more not far away that's inaccessible, and birds will continue to spread it. It is a different species than the one you show, with slightly smaller leaves. Ah, here it is on the Virginia invasives list: Ligustrum chinense.

    As a result, the picture of the hedge in flower gives me the willies, but I assume that the people at the Huntington know what they're doing. Maybe they shear the hedge after bloom so that no berries form?

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  7. Where did you get the privets that screen out like that? Genius idea! Was it a local nursery in so cal?

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    1. Village Nurseries sells them, I believe. Village has locations in the city of Orange and Huntington Beach; however you might check around with other retailers/wholesalers, because I've seen them installed in multiple areas, so growers besides Village must be doing same.

      I actually did it myself, bought a $5.99 1 gallon Ligustrum japonicum from Home Cheapo and tied the whips up to a stake as they grew. Easy peasy!

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  8. We just planted a row of 21 privets. We got them from the nursery in 5 gallon containers. They were staked and a good height for the price. Probably 4ft. My question is, when do we remove the wooden stakes?

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    1. Short answer #1: remove them. Assumption #1: the stems are strong enough to remain vertical (if vertical is what you want). Assumption #2: the shrubs are sufficiently tall for your intended purpose.


      Short answer #2: leave them to rot in place. Use them to tie up new "whips" vertically as they grow. Assumption: stakes are wood and will rot. Rot is not necessarily good for the roots of the plant. Depends on soil, moisture levels, climate.

      Long answer: Stakes in purchased plants are intended to be removed once the plant goes into the ground. They are there to protect and aid the plant during nursery growth, transport and display for sale, not after planting.

      I assume you understand Ligustrum growth habit. New "whips" that grow naturally want to grow sideways. If you want a tall, narrow hedge, those new whips should be trained vertically to your desired height or close to it. There are a couple of different ways do to that:

      1. by using tall stakes sufficient to tie up the whips to force them to grow vertically. Stakes should be pounded into the soil on either side of the shrub, outside of the shrub's root ball at planting. Stems tied with wide soft strapping or rubber tubing (old bicycle inner tubes are excellent for this).

      2. Cylinders fashioned out of wire fencing, set over each shrub, and secured to the ground with landscape staples. As "whips" grow, arrange inside the cylinder to grow vertically. Tip back all the side growth that came out through the fencing and ended up with the tallest, narrowest shrubs possible. The cylinders can eventually be cut out with wire cutters and discarded.

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    2. We planted 77 wax leaf privets in February in Los Angeles. They are growing pretty well, but now are growing into the yard. See here: https://m.imgur.com/a/PucKWzG/
      Our landscaper who planted them said to trim the branches growing into the yard. The gardener wants to tie up the branches to the stake and to even put taller stakes. We want 10 foot hedges to be tall and narrow along the property lines

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    3. We just planted 80 privets in our yard in February in LA. Now, branches are growing into the yard: https://m.imgur.com/a/PucKWzG/

      The landscaper who planted them is suggesting that we trim the branches that extend into the yard. Our gardener says we should tie up the branches, and even install bigger stakes. He wants me charge $25 per plant to install 8’ stakes, which is almost what I paid per plant. Ideally, we want a 10’ or taller narrow hedge along the edge or our property. Trim them? Tie them up? Install taller stakes? For reference, the wall is 6’

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    4. Hi Mitch, thanks for the photo. It is helpful. Looks like the stakes there now go up to about 6'. You may be able to manage with them as they are. Keep in mind that part of a stake has to go into the ground. An 8' stake will only be a little over 6' tall once it is pounded into the ground.

      Please carefully study the fifth from last photo in the post, the one below "There's a wooden stake under that:"

      Also carefully study the fourth from last photo to see what the branches are doing there.

      You can see how the grower tied several of the long "whips" (branches) to the stake to train them upwards. If you can do the same with each of your plants right to the top of your existing stakes, you'll get at least 7' of branches going vertically upwards (a bit farther than the top of the stake) As they continue to grow upwards, you could try loosely gathering and tying the vertical branches together up another foot or two as the branches harden and strengthen into a vertical position over time. If that gets you another foot or two, you are going to end up with a 10' hedge by just trimming back here and there leaving whatever grows taller to 10'

      The rest of the branches growing horizontally you cut off at short lengths to fill in the hedge.

      It depends how fast you want a 10' hedge vs. how much you want to pay to get it to 10' as fast as possible. If you want instant results, put in 12' stakes that are going to extend up 9 or 10' and have the whips tied to the stakes frequently as they grow. That will cost you $. If you are a little patient and willing to do a little work observing, working with the plants, with tying up and tipping back, you save money.

      Everything is a trade off, right? Best wishes for a beautiful privacy hedge.

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    5. Thank you for your very detailed response! I guess I did not realize that the privets would need to have stakes close to the desired height for the fastest growth. I will start to tie up the whips now and re-evaluate. Any good sources for tall stakes? I found these, but not sure if they are appropriate https://gemplers.com/products/bamboo-stakes-12-x27-l-1-1-4-quot-28-30mm-dia-25pk?currency=USD&variant=39836121137267&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&utm_content=https://gemplers.com/products/bamboo-stakes-12-x27-l-1-1-4-quot-28-30mm-dia-25pk%3Fcurrency%3DUSD%26variant%3D39836121137267%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_campaign%3DGoogle%2520Shopping&utm_term=shopify_US_6761805873267_39836121137267&gclid=Cj0KCQjw54iXBhCXARIsADWpsG-1snM8guCAT_SUnehSqNlqUbB_dBwist46dLhtC-9vyJEhvAGrguUaAsEFEALw_wcB

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    6. The reason for the staking is to create the narrow profile--trunks going straight up--as fast as possible . T=$. I use fiberglass stakes from A. M. Leonard. They are pretty sturdy.--but I don't have 80 shrubs to stake!

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  9. Your last comment has me intrigued; "A plant aficionado may prefer a more exotic, unusual, or varied hedge." Would you be able to elaborate on some of these options that would do well in Southern California?

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  10. @Scott,

    Hi Scott, keep in mind that other choices might depend upon soil type, growing zone, personal taste, skill and time to maintain, patience for slow growers, irrigation requirements, willingness to experiment, etc, etc. CA natives like Rhus integrifoia, Rhus ovatifolia, Garryea elliptica. Callistemon 'Slim' is what I've used lately--it has the added attraction of hummingbird and oriole luring flowers, but it's proven to need careful pruning, limiting the growth to one central trunk, staking that central trunk, and light shearing of the resulting side branches to produce ideal results. But the results are pretty fabulous.

    Incidentally those hedges in the latter part of the post are still there, and still look great.

    Podocarpus elongatus 'Monmal'. Hakea petiolaris. Leucadendron 'Chief' or 'Safari Sunset'. That's what comes to mind offhand. The key thing is, like the Ligustrum, can you train one or a few stems vertically, will those stems branch out nicely, and will the branches tolerate being tipped back?

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