Cutting privet only stimulates it. I doesn't have real deep running roots and can be pulled up relative easily.
Hamp

I agree with oldblush. I do cut it but only enough to leave myself a good "handle" to pull on when the ground is nice and wet.

I agree - I soak the ground until it is extremely saturated and pull pull pull. Luckily for me, my dog likes to help out so I have a little bit more leverege. Depending on the size, you might want to have two people pull em out...

My Privet can beat y'alls privet any day. Some of ours is over 15 feet tall and a 4wd 3/4 ton Ford pickup truck can't pull it out of wet clay.
So we cut it with a chain saw and paint the stump with Tordon. It may take a second cut and repainting after it's stunted, but it does work well.
The Tordon also works to remove year and two year old hackberry and other tree seedlings from inside of mature rose bushes without killing the roses. Don't use it on Poke weed.
Ann

We recently moved to Sacramento and when we purchased our house it came with a huge privet tree.Never knew they existed.
Last week it was cut down and the roots ground down about 10in below ground level.Left are thousands of small privet seedlings all over the yard.They are in the mulch which I can dig up and put in a pile.What I'd like to do is pour something over this to kill the seedlings and then spread the ground cover back . Any ideas on what to use?

We moved in here 3 years ago and my wife and i have had
itching allergies for 2 years. This year has been the
worst. We suspect the yellow pollen that covered our yard from the privet trees we have here. I cut one down but the other one is about 25 feet high and I prefer just to kill it, because I'm 80 and have arthritis in my back. I have tried stripping the bark about 8" but I don't see any change in the leaves. This tree has 6 large trunks branching out. I need to do something before next June
because thats when the tree starts its blooming. Anyone with
any ideas how to get rid of it or keep it from blooming.

When you scratch the bark to reveal the growing layer, use a foam paintbrush to apply a little herbicide like Brush be Gone. Using the paintbrush allows you to more accurately apply the liquid to the living tissue.

Your pain resonates with me. My Mom and Dad bought an 1855 house that had been vacant ten years...only one acre, but a real privet forest. Thirty years later it is still a battle. Carolina moonseed, poison ivy, ailanthus, hackberry and wisteria are the worst. Without constant work it will return to forest for sure...and herbicides are getting more expensive daily.

We bought 54 acres in Alabama that was covered in 20 year old privet. It has roots the size of 10 inch tree trucks running under the ground from one plant to another. We tried folicuar application but it came back. You can't pull it up when it is this old. The only thing that worked was cutting it off and applying Crossbow herbicide (which has been discontinued now) on the stumps immediately. There is another herbicide that has replaced it that I understand is equally effective. Privet that is not very old can be easily pulled up or use a tree wrench.