Privet hedge versus Jasmine?

herestomo

Hi All,
We have a 4 meter long 2 meter tall and  1.5 meter width privet hedge between our house and the next doors. We hate it! 
Would it be possible to cut the hedge back to the bone on our side and let some climbing evergreens such as Jasmine crawl up and out of it?
Thanks in advance.
Alan.

Loxley

I don't think it would be very successful. In time the privet will grow back - and you might get partial cover with the Jasmine - but you'll be looking at bare twigs for a long time and I think you would regret it. If the width bothers you probably best to cut a little more each time you trim it, over time. Or perhaps speak to neighbour and offer to replace with a fence.

Lizzie27

It depends on who the hedge belongs to and where the actual boundary is. If the hedge belongs to your neighbour and is inside their boundary line, you are allowed the trim any overhang on your side. Technically you are supposed to offer over any trimmings back to your neighbour.

If the hedge belongs to you, you can do what you like to it.

If it's a jointly owned hedge/boundary, then the situation is more difficult. Have you tried asking the neighbour if they like the hedge and want to keep it or would they like something different.

You could consider putting up a fence on your side of the hedge and growing climbers on it. This would be your best bet.

In my view, cutting it right back to the trunks could possibly kill it and jasmine would not look good as it would be difficult to keep looking tidy. Jasmine is a very vigorous climber and grows quickly once established.

cmarkr

Don't bother with jasmine, it grows out of control, ground layers so is difficult to remove and doesn't really offer much in the way of interest for the vast majority of the year. If you like the flowers then Star jasmine is a lot slower growing but has almost year round interest. I'd choose privet over jasmine any day.

Dovefromabove

My guess is that it would be perfectly possible to renovate that privet and turn it into a smart green nicely trimmed hedge … a 2m tall 1.5m wide hedge sounds as if it’s been totally ignored and allowed to become a monstrosity. 

Has it been established who the hedge belongs to and what the neighbours feelings about it are?

Some photos would help us to help you. 

Fairygirl

If you don't like privet, and the hedge is yours, you can take it out and replace it with something else.
The important thing is to establish ownership though, and proceed from there. There are lots of other plants/hedging which would make a nice hedge, depending on conditions and aspect etc. 

Even if you wanted to plant a jasmine to grow through it, it would depend on what jasmine, and where you are. Some of them simply aren't hardy everywhere, so you could be wasting your money.

KeenOnGreen

Is it Privet itself which you dislike, or is it just the size and shape of the hedge? If it's the latter, have you considered shaping it to something more interesting. We have a Privet hedge in our front garden, and love its curves. With a bit of renovation trimming, you could easily achieve something like this. It doesn't need to be rectangular and boring.

JennyJ

Bear in mind that privet (like any hedge) takes a lot of the moisture and nutrients out of the soil, and getting anything else established close to it might be challenging.

herestomo

Thanks for your input folks.
The hedge belongs to us but is great as a screen for our patio and the dear old neighbour likes privet and his routine of shearing his side of it which is why we don't want to remove it. I know that the privet would grow back through whatever we plant but as long as I'm not just staring at total privet and maybe something more interesting that could use the hedge as a climbing frame would be ideal. Jasmine was just an idea but I was really looking for suggestions.
As for the Privet being thirsty and nutrient hungry, not a problem as I can deal with that. I just need something evergreen that I can combine and incorporate into a hedge that I find dull. 
Many Thanks. Alan

Fairygirl

The problem with growing something 'through it' is that it will keep being sheared along with the privet, so it would be fairly pointless   

herestomo

Fairygirl said:

The problem with growing something 'through it' is that it will keep being sheared along with the privet, so it would be fairly pointless   cmarkr said:

Don't bother with jasmine, it grows out of control, ground layers so is difficult to remove and doesn't really offer much in the way of interest for the vast majority of the year. If you like the flowers then Star jasmine is a lot slower growing but has almost year round interest. I'd choose privet over jasmine any day.

Dovefromabove said:

My guess is that it would be perfectly possible to renovate that privet and turn it into a smart green nicely trimmed hedge … a 2m tall 1.5m wide hedge sounds as if it’s been totally ignored and allowed to become a monstrosity. 

Has it been established who the hedge belongs to and what the neighbours feelings about it are?

Some photos would help us to help you. 

The hedge has been the same size and shape for the last 40 years as far as we know and is far from a monstrosity. We just don't want total privet on our side. The old boy next door has a routine of trimming it. We gust want a bit of colour poking through at our side at least.
a bit of Bird Cherry or some Firethorn perhaps?