Ligustrum vulgare

Both wild privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and garden privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) make excellent hedges. Wild privet is native, very tough, great on chalk and especially good for wildlife, while garden privet has broader, glossier leaves and stays more reliably evergreen for a formal suburban look.

Ligustrum vulgare, or wild privet, is native to Britain, with slim, matt leaves, and is semi-evergreen. Ligustrum ovalifolium, or garden privet, comes from Japan and Korea, has broader, oval, glossy leaves and is mostly evergreen. Both grow quickly and clip into dense hedges.

Wild privet (Ligustrum vulgare) is semi-evergreen: it keeps much of its foliage in mild winters and sheltered gardens, and sheds more leaves in cold winters before regrowing in spring. Garden privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) is more reliably evergreen.

Privet is one of the faster hedging plants, typically growing around 30 to 60cm a year once established. That means a young privet hedge thickens up within a few seasons, and it looks its best with two or three trims a year.

Spacing depends on the size and width of the plants. Bare-root privet whips are often planted at 5 to 7 per metre in a staggered double row, while larger plants are spaced by width: divide 100 by the width in centimetres, so plants 50cm wide go in at 2 per metre. The Form Plants team confirms spacing for each order.

The best time to plant privet is in the dormant season, from late autumn to early spring. Bare-root privet is available roughly November to March, root-balled plants from about October or November to March, and pot-grown plants can be planted all year with watering.

Trim a formal privet hedge two or three times a year between May and late summer to keep it dense and neat. Check for nesting birds before clipping, as active nests are protected, typically from March to August. Overgrown privet can be cut back hard in late winter or early spring.

Yes, all parts of privet, especially the black berries, are harmful if eaten and can upset dogs, cats, horses and people. Established hedges are rarely a problem, but clear up clippings and discourage pets from eating the berries.

Yes, wild privet is excellent for wildlife. Its scented summer flowers are visited by bees and other pollinators, its black autumn berries feed blackbirds and thrushes, its dense growth shelters nesting birds, and it is the food plant of the privet hawk-moth caterpillar.

The cost depends on the size, format and tier you choose. Value plants, including bare-root whips, are the most economical way to plant a long privet hedge, while Premium plants are fuller root-balled plants and instant hedge troughs for a finished hedge straight away. Live prices and sizes are shown on this page, and the team confirms quantities and pricing for each order.

Yes. You are welcome to visit the Form Plants showroom at Row Town in Surrey, open Monday to Saturday and on bank holidays, to see the hedging and choose your plants. You can simply pop in during opening hours, or book a Genus Bar appointment for unhurried time with the team and help with quantities.

Yes, Form Plants delivers nationwide. Our in-house team arranges every delivery and can offload larger root-balled plants and instant hedge elements by HIAB or Moffett crane where access allows. Delivery is quoted for each order depending on size, quantity and location.