Can I revive big privet hedge by feeding it ?

morganlefay

Sorry if this has been asked before - I did search but found nothing quite like it. We share a high (about 10ft) privet hedge with our neighbour - we have the sunnier side. It is slowly getting a bit thin and the neighbour has been advised to rip it out and start again (houses date from about 1914 and perhaps the hedge is original ? hard to tell) We can't afford to have extensive work done to rip hedge out and replace - let alone all the inconvenience and lack of privacy while new hedge grows, and the neighbour is one of those people who's always fussing with his garden - not always successfully, but usually expensively. Do you think I could feed the hedge and make it thicker again, or what would be the best approach to avoid having to let him rip it out ?

unluckychappie

I believe privet do respond to feeding, and heavy pruning. Reducing a ten foot hedge and thinning it may not be ideal for you as it will expose your garden but it is better than having your garden exposed for several years while a replacement grows. Privet does regenerate from the roots and along the stems in my experience. It is very 'hungry' and depletes the nutrients from the ground, as a dead strip of grass against ours testifies. Once the grass grows back I will reduce the feeding frequency. Gardening sites recommend a general fertilizer although I use chicken manure. I assume you have no honey fungus infection.

tabskitten

only one way to find out!!