Some trees, such as Japanese Privet L.

Jun 26, Heavy pruning to reduce the size or to tree form your Ligustrum should be performed in late winter, while the plant is dormant. Selective Pruning of Ligustrum Use a sharp pair of bypass hand pruners to selectively remove stray or damaged branches. Make your cut at a point along the branch just above the main form of the plant. Apr 12, The first step in privet hedge pruning is to trim out crossing branches.

You’ll also want to keep cutting back privet to remove damaged or dead branches. Remove them at their base with loppers. Once you finish this, remove several large branches from the Estimated Reading Time: 2 mins. Late winter is the best time to prune, especially with major renovations like this. The plants will soon start growing and quickly close the pruning wounds and start producing new stems and a fuller plant.

Privets will tolerate severe pruning, back to several inches above ground level. Be aware that plants often produce overly long stems after this type of severe pruning.

Jul 01, Prune an Overgrown Privet Hedge with John. We'll go through the privet hedge pruning process step by step so you'll be ready to tackle your own.