Privet Pros and Cons

Well, privet is something I am rather fond of, and do have respect for.

You've gotta admire the way they can survive the heat. They don't do so as spectacularly as a native tree, as they look all terrible for the worst of summer, but they do seem to manage to survive.

They are good for a bit of shade. The bees certainly love the white lilac-like flowers. I think they are related to lilac. The birds must eat and scatter the berries, otherwise they wouldn't be so ubiquitous. They seem to come up wherever one does watering. Still, they can be a pest; a pesky nuisance; and do seem quite adept at robbing water from more valued trees.

We have two wild types, here--the small-leafed European variety, and the large-leafed Chinese variety. I do admire the European variety--the golden one so prized in cool climate gardens as hedges. There are quite a lot of lovely clipped golden privet hedges in the town of Orange, NSW, around older houses.

I have to spend quite a lot of time cutting privets out, nowadays, as they are apt to run rampant. They mustn't be allowed to take over.