Chinese privet

About

A hedge shrub from China that escapes into woods, stream bottoms and yard edges, forming dense thickets up to about 30 feet tall. Birds spread the berries far and wide, and it's very hard to get rid of once it's established.

Also called privet

How to identify it

Look for

Leaves are opposite, small (about 1 to 2 inches), oval and glossy, and they stay green most or all of the winter. Young twigs are hairy with obvious lenticels, and the thin bark is light gray to brown. Clusters of small white flowers with a strong, often unpleasant smell bloom in spring, followed by dark purple to black berries about a fifth of an inch across in fall.

Look-alikes

Japanese privet and glossy privet are close relatives with bigger (1.5 to 4 inch), thicker, more leathery leaves.

Where it grows

Woodland edges, stream banks and bottomlands, fence rows, old hedges and neglected yards.

When

Flowers from about March to June, and fruit ripens from September through late fall.

How it spreads

Birds and other animals spread the seeds, and the shallow, wide root system sends up suckers.

Most common in

What to do, gentlest first

Protect yourself first. Weed killers are a last step; always read and follow the label.

1. Replace privet hedges Prevent

   Swap old privet hedges for noninvasive shrubs so they stop feeding birds a seed supply, and pull seedlings every year. No single treatment gets rid of privet, so plan on follow-up.

2. Pull seedlings or use a weed wrench By hand

   Pull seedlings and small saplings when the soil is moist, getting the whole root. A weed wrench lever tool pulls saplings up to about 2 inches thick.

   Cutting alone just makes it resprout.

3. Goats Natural enemies

   Goats browse privet within their reach and can help keep regrowth down.

4. Cut-stump, basal bark or winter foliar treatment Conventional spray

   Paint a 25% glyphosate or triclopyr solution on stumps within minutes of cutting, or spray triclopyr in oil on the lower 12 to 18 inches of bark any time of year. A 3 to 5% glyphosate leaf spray works well from late fall to early winter, when most native plants are dormant but privet is still green.

   Read and follow the label. Many lawn and brush killers also harm garden plants, so keep spray and drift off anything you want to keep. Don't spray on windy days.

Uses, wildlife and pets

For wildlife

Birds eat the fruit and deer browse the leaves.

Pets

Chinese privet isn't listed separately, but the ASPCA lists common privet (Ligustrum vulgare) as toxic to dogs, cats and horses.