Border Privet

(Oleaceae - Olive Family)

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• Form
  • semi-evergreen to deciduous, large foliage shrub
  • maturing at up to 12' tall by 15' wide, but often smaller
  • upright oval to radiating rounded growth habit in youth, maturing to an arching vase growth habit with age (if left unpruned, but frequently pruned into a formal hedge)
  • medium growth rate

• Culture
  • full sun to partial shade
  • prefers moist, well-drained soils in full sun in humid Southern environments, but is one of the better deciduous hedges for Northern climates and is highly adaptable to many urban stress situations (poor soils, various soil pHs, compacted soils, drought, high light intensity, heavy pruning, and pollution), but does not like poor soil drainage
  • propagated by rooted stem cuttings or by seeds
  • Olive Family, with powdery mildew as an occasional cosmetic leaf disease problem, but relatively disease- and pest-free in spite of many pathogens and bugs that can attack it
  • abundantly available in container or ball and burlap form

• Foliage
  • medium to dark green leaves are semi-evergreen (Southern range) or slowly deciduous (Northern range)
  • opposite, elliptical to oblong, short-petioled, about 1" to 1.5" long, and relatively blunt-tipped as compared to other Privets
  • green, chartreuse, or green-purple in fall color, and not showy

• Flowers
  • white inflorescences that tend to nod, in late May to early June, slightly malodorous and attracting many bees
  • if the shrub was unpruned during the previous two years and sited in full sun, inflorescences will cover the shrub in late Spring and be ornamentally attractive; however, frequent pruning results in few flowers, if any

• Fruits
  • at first green, then maturing as drooping, blue-black clusters in September and persisting into the following Spring if uneaten by the birds; noticeable but ornamentally insignificant

• Twigs
  • olive-colored young stems become light gray with age
  • stems are thin and much-branching, giving the shrub a very twiggy appearance, whether sheared or not
  • shrub will branch and foliage nearly to the ground if sheared into hedge form

• Trunk
  • multitrunked, light gray, and fairly smooth

• ID Summary
  • twiggy thin stems are covered with semi-evergreen, ovate foliage
  • growth habit is naturally upright arching or vased with age, but often sheared into hedge form
  • creamy late Spring flowers (when present) are unpleasantly fragrant, and give rise to black-blue Winter-persistent clustered fruits

• Function
  • usually a formal hedge, but also utilized as an informal hedge, screen, or non-thorny barrier shrub
  • found in rows, at entranceways, along pathways or borders, and against walls or foundations

• Texture
  • fine texture in foliage and when bare
  • average to thick density in foliage but thick density when bare

• Assets
  • urban tolerant and highly adaptable to many stressful sites
  • branches and foliages to the ground if sheared as a formal hedge

• Liabilities
  • growth rate requires frequent pruning if used as a formal hedge
  • other shrubs and trees may grow up through the shrub (or hedge) and be a pesky problem to remove
  • often a garbage and leaf collector at its base, when sheared into a low-branching hedge
  • poor Autumn coloration and very twiggy Winter appearance (when finally deciduous)
  • may occasionally be an invader shrub into neglected or foundation areas, as its seeds can be dispersed by birds
  • attracts bees when in flower

• Habitat
  • zones 3 to 7
  • native to Japan

• Alternates
  • formal or informal hedges, either deciduous (Ligustrum species, Ribes alpinum, Spiraea x vanhouttei, Viburnum dentatum, etc.) or evergreen (Buxus cultivars, Taxus x media, etc.)
  • barriers or screens, either deciduous (Acanthopanax sieboldianus, Ligustrum species, Lonicera species, Rosa multiflora, Rubus species, etc.) or evergreen (Juniperus species [upright forms], Taxus x media 'Hicksii', Thuja occidentalis [upright forms], etc.)

• Variants
  • Ligustrum obtusifolium regelianum - Regel Privet (named for a person, but often incorrectly spelled Regal Privet) - a compact variety, to 5' tall by 5' wide, with predominately horizontal branching, with the leaves (to 2" long) in a single plane with their branch, yielding an overall graceful layered appearance if left unpruned

• Translation
  • Ligustrum is the classical Latin name for Privets.
  • obtusifolium translates as "rounded foliage," referring to the relatively blunt apices of the leaves.

• Purpose
  • Border Privet is one of the most common formal or informal semi-evergreen to deciduous hedges.

• Summary
  • Ligustrum obtusifolium is commonly found as a formal deciduous hedge or large informal barrier shrub, with dense twigginess that bears foliage to the ground if sheared into formal hedge form.