Funny you mention this, my privet hedge had a tough time this spring.... It just didn't take off like it normally would. The leaves came out kind of on the small, dark and glossy side and later a few began to dry up and fall off. There was no big spring flush of new growth. Now it seems to have recovered and is putting out the normal growth. I don't know. Maybe it was the really dry weather? I thought I was to blame- too many roots cut during bed prep, but no, even an untouched bush looked bad.

I too though privet was un-killable. Maybe someone else knows something?
Kato

Privets don't last forever and a lot of people make the mistake of planting a group of them all the same time rather than staggering it. Also,privets are very heavy feeders so could be depleting the soil unless they are fed on a regular basis.They also don't like poor drainage and with all the rain we have had here in Bucks County privets as well as other shrubs have had a rough time of it.

Mine is doing great we trimmed it 3 weeks ago but all the rain we had, we did it again this past weekend.Only thing I see is I have hedge about2 1/2'h along driveway .I have a bricked court yard like.anyway its pretty long.All grows well but this one section about 2' long.Didnt have to be trimmed this time.Im thinking there may be a rock in there.I feed mine in spring with holly tone.

Interesting responses, thanks. My privet is on a slight hill, in heavy soil, about a dozen feet away from the septic laterals. It seems to be very healthy so far, I'm glad to hear there's nothing systemic going around.