Shrub
Oval-leaved privet
Ligustrum ovalifolium
A vigorous upright semi-evergreen shrub used for dense hedges and screens. It tolerates many soils, but a clipped hedge needs regular trimming and may lose more foliage in a cold or exposed winter.
- Size
- 4–8 m high · 2.5–4 m wide
- Light
- Full sun / Partial shade
- Water
- Moderate
- Winter
- Hardy
- Seasonal form
- Semi-evergreen
- Maintenance
- Moderate
Before planting
- Allow space and access for a hedge that can reach several metres if left unclipped.
- Decide whether flowers and black fruit are wanted, because frequent hedge trimming removes most flowering shoots.
- Keep leaves, fruit and prunings away from children and pets because the plant is harmful if eaten.
Why choose it
- Forms a dense, adaptable screen in sun or partial shade and on many soil types.
- Recovers well from regular clipping and can be shaped as a formal or informal hedge.
Care
- Water during establishment, then in prolonged drought or on very free-draining ground.
- Clip two or three times during the growing season for a formal hedge, stopping by late summer so new growth can harden.
- Collect cut material and fruit where children or pets could reach them.
Good to know
- The plant is semi-evergreen: it keeps more leaves in mild sheltered winters and may become noticeably bare in colder exposed conditions.