I loathe these plants. They are nothing short of disgusting and evil. The odor of the flowers is nauseating, the plants are ugly, and they really have displaced way too much turf that should be occupied by native plants. It's on my list of most despised plants. Japanese Honeysuckle is up there as well (although at least it smells good!).

I like them. I have one in our yard that is pruned into a beautiful small tree. It's the only tree I have that flowers in May, however, it was here when we built the house.

That said, our woods are full of wild privet so removing that one tree won't make a bit of difference as far as seeds coning up everywhere.

I have cleared areas for beds and the wild privet thickets were monstrous and difficult to eradicate.

I wouldn't plant any privet certainly, but I do enjoy the bloom and fragrance in the same way I enjoy the grape kool aid smell of kudzu blooms.

And the honeysuckle is amazing right now.

I dont mean to be rude...ok..actually I do. But the statement, "so removing that one tree wont make a bit of diference" might be one of the most narrow minded, ignorant and self centered things i've heard in a long time.

We just found a dwarf curly leaf ligustrum at the Pottery in Commerce and had to take it home. I don't believe it's invasive but it is stunningly beautiful. Does anyone know for sure?

Congratulations, bumblebeez, for correctly naming 2 of the 3 excuses people give for having and keeping invasive plants:

1. There is already so much out there that adding more/removing some will not make a difference.

2. I like mine so I'm keeping it anyway.

In case you ever want to use the third one, it is:

3. I've never seen any seedlings/suckers in my yard, so it must not be invasive.

If every one of us said we could not make a difference, we couldn't. But if all of us would try to make a difference, I honestly think we could. Development destroys acres of privet every week as property gets turned into subdivisions and retail shops. So the seed population is being reduced.

Jennifratrix, any ligustrum that flowers and sets seed will contribute to the problem. You can control the spread by cutting off and trashing any seed that it makes and then, when you move, removing the plant (because the person after you will probably not take the trouble to remove the seeds).

Esh, I'll keep an eye on it, thanks! Having done a bit more web searching, I see it's a cultivar of the invasive Japanese ligustrum but is reputedly very slow-growing so perhaps it'll be ok.

We have acres of wid privet here. Like I said, I wouldn't plant privet (or any form of ligustrum) but I am not an idealist and seeds will come up anyway from all the thickets and cutting down the one tree that I did not plant
because you think it it should come down is nothing but ridiculous.

And when I do start removing more privet, I have several acres to keep me busy. Right now I'm busy with poisen ivy.

And, I will take acres of privet, honeysuckle and kudzu any day over more subdivisons and retail shops! Now that is destroying our woods!

So I must confess I have about 10-12 wax-leaf ligustrum, the ones with the golden new growth. I have never seen these growing in the wild, do they reseed as the same bush or cross polinate and look differently? I have tons of the other privet. Is the wax leaf ligustrum in the same league as the privet as far as invasiveness. ?

Kathy, they will likely cross pollinate with others (whether in your yard or a neighbor's). The offspring would come up looking more like the species (plain green) than your cultivar (that's why cultivars are propagated mostly from cuttings to ensure they come true).

Are the japanese and chinese equally invasive? Seems not, but that may be because the japanese was brought over later and the other has had more time to spread. I do occasionally find waxleaf seedlings from thoughtful birds.

Bumblebeez, we are only trying to educate people here, not tell you personally what to do. Sounds like you have plenty of "wild privet" to deal with ... you could save the one in your yard for your last removal project. Sounds like it would be years away from your description of how much you have. Good luck with the poison ivy. That's one native plant with a bad rap!

I pull privet seedlings constantly- not from my bushes- I don't have any- but from a neighbor's who has at least a quarter acre of them. Tomorrow will be a good day to do that since it has rained and the ground is soft.

I constantly pull up privet too - not from me and not from my neighbors either. It's just everywhere, probably spread from all the privet growing along Hwy 20.
I must say that I can't bring myself to part with my nandina, but I do at least cut the berries off every year so birds don't spread it.

So I'm sort of new to this shrub thing..and I see japanese something mentioned above..is this thing you talk about the same as "euonymus japonicus"? I have what I think are some sivler queen euonymus, they are green and white and they get what looks like those white flowers shown in the picture above, but I'm not certain I've ever seen berries on them - is that one of the 'bad' shrubs you are talking about? I also have some other sort of Euonymus that are green and yellow, no flowers and no berries ever that I've seen, again, is this a 'bad' shrub? ..sorry, being new to this - they ALL look alike to me..how you all tell one thing from another sure beats me sometimes! :)

how do you get rid of the honeysuckle? I found the vine growing in the woods that I have not yet, dug up for gardening. Its with the yellow and white flowers, it does smell good, but I'd rather get rid of it before it gets too out of hand.

I get rid of honeysuckle by hand pulling it in early spring (because it is evergreen and easy to see) when the ground is moist. If you choose to spray it with herbicide, you need to use a brush killer for woody plants.

esh, this is a good thing you are doing by trying to make ordinary gardeners aware, a little at a time, of the problems of invasive plants. In response to one of the posters I would like to repeat this story: A little boy was walking along the beach one day picking up starfish and tossing them back into the ocean. A man saw what he was doing and told the boy that thousands of starfish washed ashore and that what he was doing would not make a difference. The little boy thought about this for a moment and then tossed a starfish back into the ocean and said "It made a difference to that one."

I agree with bumblebeez on this issue - removing her lone plant would not make a difference with regard to this pest plant. Whether we like it or not, Ligustrum sinense is here to stay and will permanently be part of our flora in the Southeastern U.S., as will Japanese Honeysuckle, Mimosa trees, Chinaberries,Kudzu, and other foreign invasive plants that are already well-established. There's no way these plants can be eradicated, short of some miraculous herbicide that targets only those specific plants.

I have always thought that the real gambling takes place when we plant new exotic plants that aren't widely grown. How do we know we aren't truly unleashing the next pest plant that will outcompete the natives?

What's the best way to remove privet? My thickets are pretty well established, thanks to the former owners of the house who thought it was a good plant for the back yard. It's too big to pull - I'm actually considering the ultimate weapon (roundup) that I hate. Thanks to other neighbors that view it as a decorative shrub (and prune it into shape) I'll probably always have babies. I hate this stuff!

Another lovely attribute of Privet is that is a common host for White Flies. I have always called it Swamp Hedge.

esh ga I think you're so committed; I commend you.

I have a privet but it has different leaves, not those long ones, but rather smaller, somewhat rugose leaves two at a time like the one you show here. I cut it down to the ground frequently but it never dies. It seems to be suckering or something.

I pull privet seedlings from all over the place, as I walk along I go around pulling privet (from the park, from the Tucker Rec Center, etc.).

Poison ivy is the one plant I am deathly afraid of. A couple yrs got such a bad allergic reaction I ended up getting cortisone shot and having to take pills (steroids I think). I treat that with roundup--that's the only thing I've used it for.

Rose

Patienceplus, a good way to get rid of privet (and other unwanted woodies) is to cut it off about 1 foot above the ground. Paint the stump with a BRUSH killer (not regular roundup). Some people theorize that is best to do this in fall when the roots are busy absorbing nutrients and the poison will be carried down into the roots. The reason to leave about 12 inches worth is so that if it resprouts, you have room to cut it again and put more brush killer on it.

Folks working on larger scale removals have discovered that buying or renting a weed wrench to pull out the stumps helps. Privet does sucker heavily from the stump so killing or removing the roots is essential.

Here is a link that might be useful: Weed wrench

I used to partake in these debates and then I took some time off from the forums, changed my user name and now go by a strict policy of not trying to change people's minds about invasives because the debates are lengthy and time consuming.

Unlike Mimosa and Paulownia, I think privet is absolutely beautiful. But I would never, ever, plant it. When I see it in a nursery, I have a word with the manager about it. Sometimes I write on the sign "invasive, do not plant" just for my own personal amusement.

Another highly invasive plant which many people are not aware of is called CALLERY PEAR, a.k.a. 'Bradford' or 'Aristocrat' or 'Cleveland Select'. I never knew just how invasive these were until I was at a park last weekend and identified where these were showing up in the woods and taking on a much different form from what is sold in cultivation. It is a shame that this problem is perpetuated by irresponsible and greedy growers who continue to ship these plants to sensitive areas AND nurseries who do not tell the grower to stop sending them AND to the gardeners who know better but insist their one little plant is not the end of the world.

I see naturalized Callery Pears all over the banks of the interstates around here, busy battling it out with all of the other obnoxious invasives. At least the Mimosa Trees are beautiful when blooming.

The Chinese Privet is the plant that I truly don't get for why it was ever so commonly used - it's just a green blob with nasty-smelling flowers... it could easily have been substituted with any number of less offensive green blobs. Most other invasive ornamentals have attributes that make their widespread use more understandable.

It's called privet hedge because when people had outhouses or priveys they would hide them by surrounding them with these fast-growing dense hedges. By the way, and this is true, I have heard three Extension people (Soil & Water Conservation personnel) promote the benefits of kudzu. Yeah right, and the world is flat.

Just to be clear, the point of this post was to educate people. There are lots of people in the southeast that have this plant and donÂt realize what it is and that it is invasive. My hope is that people will see this, recognize that they have it, and do something about it. Even if you canÂt get out and cut it down, removing the berries and putting them in the trash is a first step.

Recognize seedlings and pull them up early:

{{gwi:816951}}

And for those of you that think removing one plant doesnÂt make a difference, I offer the following example using conservative numbers:

One mature, blooming plant (such as the one pictured in the beginning) flowers and sets 1000 berries. Of those 1000 berries, 500 of them germinate in a 5 mile radius. That is 500 new plants from one season. In 6-10 years, those 500 plants are flowering. Now they make berries and each one of those 500 plants is now making 500 more plants. So now you have 250,000 new plants. So your decision that one more doesnÂt make a difference created 250,000 new plants. In 4 years of flowering, it created at least one MILLION new plants after 6-10 years.

You can make a difference. I donÂt know if this post has convinced any new people to identify and remove their plants. But you know what? If it has convinced one person to remove one plant, it has made a difference. And if it has convinced one person not to buy ligustrum in the store, it has made a difference.

Thanks for listening.

And thanks for sharing that Ellen.

Bamadave, I had assumed the callery pear was just showing up interstates and super-disturbed sites. Some of them were questionable as there are pears planted along the I-85 interchanges here in GA. You have to get out and look carefully at them to decide. But last weekend I was in a wooded park and saw a strange mutation of callery pear in a setting far from murky highway ditch.I think the pears are pretty trees but not as pretty as the natural and native flora.

Esh,
Awesome job girlfriend! I have always been of the opinion that if everyone just does what is right for the environment the world will be a better place. I get absolutely nauseated when I see woods choked with privet. I will not have it in my yard. I pull it when I see it. I don't understand why it is not illegal. It such an ugly twisty thing anyway. Pull it out and get a camellia or osmanthus or a viburnum. The list of better alternatives is lengthy and much more beautiful.

those are impressive numbers to back up your statements, elen. a quarter-million seedlings after 10 years from a lone plant that was left to grow! you could say that we are being invaded by foreign troops and, if i had removed that single soldier, their ranks would be diminished significantly. the process is a mathmatical function, too.
the one plant begat 250,000, then they turned into 62,500,000,000, etc., etc.
i, too, hope your post has been effective in changing the opinion of someone who has never considered this.
of course, if ten people change their minds...
i'm getting a math headache! *lol*

Maybe we should underplant every Privet bush with Japanese Honeysuckle and let them strangle each other to death.

No! then you would have the wooded area at the edge of my property. Somehow they both manage to survive but not much else does.

goats love privet and kudzu, by the way. i have a friend who rents her goats to help clear them out. they not only keep up with it, they can get ahead of it pretty quickly.

you still have to cut the larger old privets that are too high for them to reach, but they will gnaw every last bit of it otherwise.

esh, I want to say THANK YOU for this information, because I am sure many, many people did not know about privet. I absolutely HATE the stuff. It stinks to high heaven, and makes me sneeze too. If you can convince just a couple of people to get rid of it, maybe the world (at least our part of it) will be a better place!

I hope someone can help me identify this shrub. A friend gave it to me and told me it was sterile. The leaves have pointed ends, different from what I have seen in photos of Chinese privet. Any help would be appreciated as I certainly do not want to put an invasive species in my yard.

Sandra, you should probably start your own thread, and post some pictures! This is a pretty old one, and there's no reason to mix in a new ID. Without pictures, it's a shot in the dark at best.