Description of common privet, planting and caring for it
Common privet is an ornamental deciduous shrub. It is often used as a hedge as it grows quickly. The annual growth is 30–35 cm.
Unkempt, the bushes do not attract attention, but after a haircut they are transformed. Decorative forms are equally beautiful in single or group plantings.
Common privet bushes for several years form a dense green wall.
Plant characteristic:
- height no more than 2 m;
- oblong leaves, light green below, dark above;
- small snow-white flowers with a yellow center, collected in dense panicles;
- the fruit is a drupe, similar to a black berry.
The plant blooms in June for about three weeks. The fruits remain on the branches until mid-winter. The life expectancy of privet is 65-70 years.
Planting and caring for privet
Privet can grow both in the shade and in the sun. But in sunny areas, it blooms more intensely. Privet is undemanding to soil. The only “but”: the plant feels bad on acidic soils.
You can plant privet throughout the growing season, but it is better to do this in the fall or early spring before the buds swell. The pit should have a depth of 30 cm more than the root system of the seedling and a width of 60 cm. Pour a bucket of water into the pit. After the water has left, pour a 15 cm layer of rubble and a soil mixture from turf, rotted manure and sand. It is good to add 120 g of nitroammophoska to the soil. Then form a mound and put a seedling on it, straightening its roots. Carefully fill the hole with earth, water the plant and cover the soil around it with mowed grass or peat.
Privet for hedges should be planted in trenches 60 cm deep and 50 cm wide.The distance between seedlings is 35 cm.
Since privet is drought-resistant, undemanding to the composition of the soil and moderately frost-resistant, it does not cause much trouble to the gardener. During a drought period, the bushes need to be watered rarely, but abundantly – 35-40 liters of water at a time. Privet responds well to feeding – in the spring, under each plant, you need to add a bucket of humus.
It is advisable to trim the privet immediately after planting. As soon as the seedling gets a little stronger, the tops of the shoots need to be pinched so that they branch. When these same shoots grow about 15 cm, they need to be pinched again. After two years, the shrub that has grown green mass can already be shaped. Pruning is done in May and August.
Mature plants require regular pruning, otherwise maintenance is minimal.