When we received a call from a listener hoping to revitalize his unruly and overgrown privet hedge this morning on Homegrown (Martha Stewart Living Radio Sirius 112); Margaret jumped to share her knowledge. It seems that Margaret's first gardening experience came from restoring a privet hedge at her parent's home so she had sympathy for the caller. Privet hedges are easy to return to glory, it just takes a brave hand and a sharp tool. To tame your hedge, prune it down to within eight inches from the ground in the fall, after it goes dormant, or in the early spring. Feed and water it and then put down a layer of mulch. Within the first season it should already start showing a lot of new growth; continue to prune it the following season. The aim is to have the base wider than the top, so that no part is shaded from the sun.
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From: katie Moor | 9/20/07 at 7:21 pm
when you say, "Within the first season it should already start showing a lot of new growth; continue to prune it the following season." do you mean to prune back to 8" again or to just prune the new growth?
I hacked back the privet in my front yard to about 2' last spring and it did great rebounding!
Thank you!