I had my L.japonicum severely pruned last year after a nine year growth. They maintained some leaves through the winter; began to bud; and, then a frost came and killed the new growth. Now, they will not bud and have billi green growth. Near the trunk it is still moist and difficult to break some small branches. Matter of fact, they bend rather than break. I decided to try and shock the bushes by lightly scarring the trunks. Will this wake them up, help them grow new growth? What affect did the frost have on the bushes? Thanks.
This is a very hardy shrub, and with time will recover just fine. In fact, you will find it hard to kill off, should you ever need to. Just give it time and it will recover just fine.
My parents planted about 6 Sunshine Ligustrum bushes in front of their home after it was built in 2011. Every year they looked absolutely beautiful, but for some reason after this previous winter they did not revive. All 6 bushes are pretty much dried up. We live in eastern Nebraska which gets very cold in the winter, but these have survived each season very well. What could have caused them to all of a sudden die? We did not get a lot of moisture this past winter and a bit of snow. It got cold as usual. Could it be that all over the country it was the coldest April on record? My parents are also wondering how difficult it will be to dig them up? Thank you!
Yes, I do believe this to be the cause. You are right on the edge of where most species will survive. Any colder than this will risk the life of the shrub.
As for digging them up... This depends on the size of the tree, or rootball. It will almost always require heavy equipment.
If they are completely dead, then as they break down it will get easier to remove them.
We just bought some property with a bunch of ligustrums planted on it. It is an old nursery. These plants are mature. Can they be relocated? Does anyone come in and remove them to sell?
You will have to contact a tree service in your area. They will remove, or relocate them. They are very hardy, and will transplant just fine. This link will help you find the closest local extension service to you: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/extension-search
We live in Southern Michigan. Our winter weather lasted into late April, and then we had torrential rain in May. As of May 28th the majority of the branches do not have leaves or buds that we can see. The only branches that have leaves are the lowest branches. Is there hope that buds will appear soon? Should we prune all the bare branches down to the few branches that have leaves, and hope for new growth, or should we remove the entire bush and plant new? We have had them for several years.
I live in NE Florida. We experience hurricane Matthew in October, my garden was flooded with salt water for over an hour. This followed by very little rain over the past 6-7 months. I watered as best I could but was away from March 1-May 20. My glossy ligustrum of 15-18 feet seems stressed with a few smaller interior branches dead or few leaves. The overall look doesn't look healthy. I would like to give it a semi-severe pruning to the point where I cut all the leading branches back removing all the leaves. Is this advisable considering the heat, lack of rain and it's the beginning of June. It's my understanding ligustrum can be truly severely pruned - that is not my intention but there will be no leaves left. Please help. Maybe I missed the early spring window of opportunity. Thank you, Isabella
First, your gardens are beautiful!
A rejuvenation prune will take a lot of courage, I'm not sue I could do it myself!
I would start with just removing the dead and damaged branches and make a plan for next spring's prune.
These links will help you.
Ligustrum responds beautifully to a full rejuvenation pruning...take them down to no more than 6 inch stubs in the late winter/very early spring. Do not fertilize your shrubs the first year.
Pruning 1/3 at a time is another option.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/ligustrum/growing-ligustrum-shrubs.htm
All the pics I see describing privets show blossoms or flowers.
The 'Sunshine' hybrid is sterile; it produces no flowers or seed. This is in response to Ligustrun's high potential to be invasive. The bright foliage makes up for lack of bloom and is a boon to allergy sufferers who react to the flower pollen.
We had three bushes in the front that would get yellow flowers on them in the spring for about a month. I had to prune them often to maintain. Transplanted them to the back yard fence line, it took about three years for them to catch hold, in the last two years they are now about 15 feet in height, no yellow flowers but get very small white flower clusters on new growth in spring. Don't know what they are?
It is difficult to see, as the pictures are quite small. It appears to be a type of ornamental privet, though. This can become quite invasive in many areas.
This article will help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/ligustrum/growing-ligustrum-shrubs.htm