The Problems With Privet

Chinese privet is a bushy plant that can be short like a shrub, or grow tall like a small tree. As the name suggests, it’s native to China, and has been bought and sold in the U.S. as a hedge plant since the 1800s. Having a “neatly trimmed privet hedge” was once a good sign of a well-maintained yard. Like the Bradford pear and exotic honeysuckle, however, this aggressive species has gotten out of hand and become invasive, spreading quickly and displacing native plants. Here, we’ll go over why this plant is such a problem, and then suggest some of the ways we can remove it from our properties and slow its spread in the wild.

Scientific Name: Ligustrum Sinense

Chinese privet is a common invasive weed throughout the southeastern United States. It’s tolerant to a wide range of light and soil conditions, meaning the plant will grow on roadsides, in woods, and backyards. In particular, privet likes moist soil conditions like those here in Tennessee. The Tennessee and Cumberland river basins, the hilly and mountainous terrain, as well as the generally humid climate, allow the plant to thrive throughout the state. 

Chinese privet sprouts and grows in early spring, producing flowers with a bad odor and berries that are eaten, then spread around, by birds. Mature privet trees grow to 10-15 feet tall with multiple thin trunks, and they are evergreen to semi-evergreen, keeping their dense, glossy leaves throughout the winter. The bushy, dense plants grow in thickets, spreading out with underground root extensions, casting lots of shade and preventing other plants and trees from growing.

An Environmental Disrupter

Chinese privet has many negative impacts on the local environment, interrupting normal, beneficial and necessary relationships between insects, wildlife and native vegetation:

• It crowds out native species – As an invasive plant, Chinese privet crowds out native plants that provide wildlife with food and shelter, taking over the ground canopy and slowly eroding environmental health. It grows early and fast, spreading quickly in an area, taking up space and casting shade below it. Since it can live in many kinds of soil and light conditions, it reaches into a variety of environment types.

• Privet has little to no ecological value – Although the plant does provide some shelter and cover for animals, it doesn’t contribute much nutritionally to the ecosystem. The nectar and berries are low in nutrients, and because they’re eaten anyway, the bees and birds eating them become malnourished. The berries are toxic to mammals and humans, while the leaves are too tough and toxic to animals and insects to be eaten.

• The plant degrades riverbanks and surrounding areas – Trees like oak, maple and cypress are important structures in riparian zones (along and near the banks of rivers). Their large roots hold the soil in place and give shape to the river. Oak roots, for example, reach 3 to 5 feet deep, but privet roots only reach a foot and a half into the ground. Privet plants are too small to manage the soil in the area, which opens the ground up to erosion and flooding while the river loses structure and shape. 

What Can Nashvillians Do About Invasive Privet?

Being able to spot privet is the first step in getting rid of the weed. A mature plant is easy to spot in winter because it’s one of the only plants that keeps its green leaves. In other seasons, the plant is distinguishable by its smooth, glossy green leaves that are situated opposite one another on the branch, which itself is yellowish-gray and hairy. The plant grows in bushy with multiple shoots, rather than thin and singular like other trees. In spring, privet grows bunches of tiny white flowers in a triangular bunch, and over the summer, it grows small, purple berries that are eaten and spread by birds, while the rest drop to the ground by fall.

One of the best things you can do to help prevent privet spread is not to plant it, and if you have the plant, attempt to remove it. Even if a privet hedge is maintained and prevented from blooming, it may spread by its roots into the next yard and grow to bloom, then spread. If you notice new and random privet plants growing in your yard, it’s important to get rid of them as soon as you spot them. 

If you have a larger property, or one with woods, regular monitoring is important to keep the plant from growing and spreading. Invasive plants will grow best in areas like abandoned lots, roadside and wooded areas that grow wild. Since most land is privately held, it’s important for residents to keep their own yards clear of the plant to prevent it from spreading to neighboring and nearby properties. 

Once you can identify Chinese privet, there are three ways to get rid of it: pull saplings out of the ground; cut down and dig out shrub-sized privets, or cut down and use herbicide on the 1-3 inch tree stump (if there’s a plant to [carefully] use a herbicide on, this is the one!) Since this plant spreads by its roots in addition to seeds, it will grow new shoots if it’s simply cut down without destroying or removing the stump and roots.

For privacy hedges at home, consider one of these native alternatives:

• American Holly

• Eastern Red Cedar

• Sweetbay Magnolias

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