Pruning privet is an essential part of its maintenance and will help keep your hedge looking neat and attractive. Our helpful step by step guide on pruning your privet hedge will help you quickly get to grips with cutting, trimming and pruning privet hedges.
Privet semi evergreen shrubs make an excellent choice when creating a formal hedge, or they can be used for informal hedges, making privet a very versatile hedging plant.
Pruning hedges regularly ensures your privet remains healthy and looks great all year round, whilst also stimulating root growth. Here are four easy to follow steps and pruning tips for successful pruning:
Start by assessing any dead, diseased or damaged branches. Then decide which branches need to be removed in order to create the desired shape and size of your privet hedge.
Start with the lower branches and longest stems and be mindful of wildlife and any nesting birds that may be present before pruning privet hedges.
Using sharp, clean pruning shears, remove any dead branches or diseased wood. This will help to keep your privet hedge healthy by keeping diseases or pests from spreading.
Carefully prune back overgrown branches to create your desired shape and size. Make sure not to cut too far or it could damage the privet hedge.
Stems should be cut at a 45 degree angle, just above a leaf bud. Start at the top of your privet hedge and gradually work down, trimming the sides so that they are even and creating the desired shape.
Following these steps will help ensure that your privet hedge is properly pruned, allowing it to look its best while staying strong and healthy.
Privet should be pruned twice a year – in early summer and late autumn.
This will reduce the risk of damage from adverse weather conditions in winter, keeping your hedge neat and tidy.
Maintenance pruning can be carried out throughout the summer months, but weather and temperature should always be considered and can affect maintenance pruning times.
The best tools to use for privet hedging are sharp garden shears, hand pruners or secateurs and a pruning saw.
Garden shears, secateurs and hand pruners are great for trimming privet hedge plants down to their desired shape.
The pruning saw is useful for removing larger branches or sections of privet that need to be cut off completely.
Please read our most commonly asked questions about pruning, trimming and cutting your privet hedge plants.
When pruning a privet hedge, it is best to start by removing about one-third of the growth. This will help maintain the privet hedge's natural shape and size while encouraging new growth.
Privet hedges should not be pruned too hard, as this can lead to damage and stress the privet hedge. When pruning privet, it is important to make sure that some of the new growth is left behind so that the privet can continue growing.
To make a privet hedge thicker, regular pruning is necessary. By taking off some of the privet’s growth each year and ensuring that it gets plenty of water and hedge fertiliser, you can encourage new growth which will help thicken and form a denser hedge.
Privet hedges require regular maintenance to ensure they stay healthy and looking their best. The privet hedge should be watered regularly during dry periods, and an application of hedge feed should be done in the early spring to promote new growth. Additionally, privet hedges should be pruned at least once a year to keep them in shape and encourage healthy growth.
Privet is known as semi evergreen hedge and will shed its leaf in late winter if temperatures are extremely cold.
Choosing the right varieties of privet hedging is important, as the privet family of plants have different characteristics and growth rates.
Our most popular species of privet hedges are Common Privet Hedge and Golden Privet Hedge.
