- How do you get the privet tighter?
- Cut, cut and cut again
- Cut the privet into a conical shape
- Pour after cutting
Some garden owners are surprised that the newly planted privet hedge grows nicely upwards, but is becoming more and more bare below. In order to get an opaque privet hedge, you have to cut the shrubs regularly. These tips will help you get your privet tighter.
Regular pruning ensures a dense hedge
How do you get the privet tighter?
The reason why the privet grows bare, especially at the bottom, is that the shrub does not get enough light below.
On the other hand, the privet needs a regular cut, especially at the beginning. Only then does it drive out many new branches that make the privet denser.
Privet is not an evergreen plant. Most species lose their leaves in autumn and winter and sprout again in spring. Some varieties, such as Privet atrovirens, keep their leaves for a long time even in winter and only shed the old leaves in the course of spring.
Cut, cut and cut again
- Cut back by 2/3 after planting
- initially cut 3x a year
- later twice a year
- conical and not straight cut
In order to get the privet tighter, you often have to use pruning shears. This begins as soon as the new planting is complete. Shorten the shoots by about two-thirds of their length. This may hurt at first, but it is necessary so that the privet becomes opaque later.
In the first few years you need to cut back privet at least three times, in spring, August and again in autumn.
Later, a double cut is sufficient if you thin out the privet a little at the same time.
Cut the privet into a conical shape
So that the privet is also opaque below, you should not cut it in a square shape, but in a conical shape. As a result, daylight also reaches the lower regions of the shrub, so that more leaves grow there and new branches sprout.
Pour after cutting
When you've cut the privet, give it a good helping of water. It needs this to have more power for new growth.
tips
You should not dispose of the cut that occurs when cutting back the privet. Chop it up a bit and just leave it under the privet. This makes an excellent green manure.