The basic of how to control privet revolve around two factors :
- Preventing it from flowering and seeding.
- Removing the plants and the suckers.
Both of these can be achieved fairly easily, however it may take a year or two to remove privet completly from a property.
Why do we need to remove Privet.
Once commonly used as a hedging plant Privet has become a weed in many areas of Australia, it is also a plant that can have allergy problems, in particular hay fever. It self seeds and should probably be removed from most gardens.
When we first moved into our last house, our neighbour came to great us, very welcoming, but with the request, can you please not let the privet flower, or better still, remove it completely, cut it down, she was allergic to it.
Three main species are the problem Ligustrum lucidum (broad-leaf privet); Ligustrum sinense (smal leaf privet) and Ligustrum vulgare (european privet)
The big problem is that they self seed very easily, privet is spread by birds and it invades both garden and bushland.
Once you identify privet in your garden or in surrounding bushland you should make every attempt to remove it. It spreads easily and some people are allergic to it.
How to Control Privet
- Weeding
Dig it out, especially the smaller plants that are easy to pull out by hand before they get to big. Do not let privet flower.Larger plants can be cut back to a stump and then the newly cut pice can be painted with weed killer. Drill a hole in the trunk and use weed killer in the hole.