Hi Sibe

I live in a 2 year old house and when it was built the developer planted a privet hedge at the front of the house.

We have tried feeding the hedge to help it grow and "fill out", however despite our best efforts, it still hasn't grown much and is very thin.

We are therefore keen to give the hedge a good start now that spring is (hopefully) around the corner. Can you give us any advice on how we could encourage growth and what is the best feed for the hedge?

Thanks for your help,

L. Black.

Our gardens expert replies:

Hello there.

Privets are widely used for garden hedging - they are tough, will grow in most soils and are tolerant of shade.

There can be various reasons why your plants haven't grown very well. One is the soil - I suggest you dig a small exploratory hole, to see what exactly they have been planted into. Check if the pots were removed! If their roots are still restricted to a small container they are never going to grow much. Is there good soil there or were they planted on top of rubble? You will only get better growth if you carefully dig the plants out and correct the situation.

If they are planted in reasonable soil they may be receiving too much competition from surrounding plants. They need 300mm - 450mm (12" - 18") of ground on each side of the row completely free of plants. Cover this with a strip of weed-control fabric, cutting slits so that it can be wrapped around the privets. This should be anchored down with either a layer of mulch or pebbles to improve the look.

One other possibility is that you have over-fed the hedge. If you applied the plant food according to the instructions on the packet this will not be a problem, but over-applied fertilizers can severely damage plant roots. If you use something like Growmore, this can be used safely at about a handful per yard of row. The best type of fertilizer to use is one high in nitrogen as this will encourage leaf and stem growth. Alternatively, you could apply a dilute feed as a foliar spray, at half of the normal concentration, watered over the leaves.

If you decide to start again, and you still want privet, try Ligustrum ovalifolium 'Argenteum' with glossy variegated leaves.

Sibe