Cutting pack privet? If it is privet!

Move house last year and I've inherited a large hedge to the front on my house which I need to thin and cut down a foot or two, as it is getting out of control :(

I think it is privet, but not 100% sure:

From the street:

Close up

Width:



Basically it is too tall and too wide, as you can see from the pictures. It's also grown uneven, the branch are very close to the garden side and all the width is at the pavement side of the hedge. The garden side seems to have been kept in check. The positive to this I can see is that only one side needs to be cut back!

So my questions for anyone that can help are:

1. Is it privet?
2. When should I cut it back (thin it)? I'm really wanting to do it now.
3. How far back should I cut it and any tips on how to do this?

Many thanks in advance.

 

Ours was the same ,spreading like a cedar tree and starting to lean over with being top heavy. we cut it right back without mercy until it was bare twigs :wink:
I`m not sure whether you can do it now.. no doubts someone will be able to advise you, we did ours back in april, it took a while to recover but its looking very green and healthy now.

 

In my experience you can cut it back as hard as you want - and now is a good time as it will continue to grow and should recover a bit before growth stops in the autumn. Mine was like yours and it was hacked right back a coupe of years ago and is absolutely fine now - just needs a very regular light trim.

It needs to be cut back to lower and thinner than you actually want it to end up - otherwise you end up with thick branches that the trimmer won't cut being left in the growth area.

I would also leave your own side to grow a bit - or just lightly trim it until the other side has a chance to green back up - otherwise it will be bare on both sides and wont provide a screen.

It probably took about 2 years before I got the really neat finish I have now - but the cut was very brutal and back to main trunk branches in places.

 

When we had privet,around 200 ft of it, we kept it to around 5 and a half ft with a rounded off top and it looked lovely.Great advice already given,you can cut it back as much as you want.I always preferred mine to be green and lush but cut well. If it were me i would take it back till i was comfortable with the size and shape but not so much as to lose the green.I would also use electric shears for obvious reasons .You can cut it anytime you wish but please check it for nests.

 

I'd prefer only to cut it back so far so as not to lose the green as well BUT I suspect to get it clear of the path it will have to go back further than that for now. It has been maintained on the garden side so no need to lose the green where it can be seen but I think ruthlessness is required to get it back into shape on the other side