Privet Hedge woes

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by Lonelygardener, Jun 7, 2021.

  1. Lonelygardener

    Lonelygardener Apprentice Gardener

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    Hi all
    New member here and glad I found you all.
    I am fairly new to gardening but not incapable . I have a type of vine in some 80 year old privet hedging that I think is causing problems but I can’t identify it to be sure. So here I am!
    Pictures attached where you can see the vine and the leaf type
    Any help is really appreciated.

    i also have a row of brittle decaying privet hedge that has white layers in its soil? Anyone?

    5462CF23-9D6D-432A-B056-6DF49BED72A7.jpeg 77B34CA3-CA59-48CB-A44C-A0730C4472EF.jpeg 671D6149-8A8F-48D2-A883-BD2D50B1FFB8.jpeg
     
    Lonelygardener, Jun 7, 2021
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  2. NigelJ

    NigelJ Total Gardener

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    @Lonelygardener Cannot see clearly enough to be sure, but I think the "vine" is possibly honeysuckle.
    If they are also 80 years old I would suggest old age and depletion of nutrients in the soil.
     
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      NigelJ, Jun 7, 2021
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    • CanadianLori

      CanadianLori Total Gardener

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      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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        A lot of ivy around the base.
         
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          pete, Jun 7, 2021
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        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          Welcome to GC :dbgrtmb:

          It looks like honeysuckle to me as well. Either leave it or pull it out depending on whether it's a nuisance. You're unlikely to be able to dig it out but pulling it will keep it under control. If it flowers then you can pull/cut it out after it has flowered. It won't affect the privet.

          80 years isn't too old for privet and yours looks reasonably healthy. Ivy through the bottom is quite common and, if it's like ours (our privet is that age and 200ft long), the ivy just remains as ground cover and doesn't grow upwards. So we leave it. A regular cutting of the hedge should keep it looking healthy but if it's a bit patchy you can try rejuvenating it by cutting back (down to 6" or so) some of the brittle patchy stems.

          In the first picture the brittle looking stem looks more like a honeysuckle stem than a privet one. Follow it upwards to check.
           
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            shiney, Jun 8, 2021
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