Privet

April 29, 2017

Can you help us identify this shrub?  I wish I could capture the wonderful aroma of this tree and send it to you via email or over the phone

The plant in question is a wax leaf ligustrum. It is a better-behaved relative of the common privet. Both shrubs are blooming now and some like the sweet fragrance, while others think it is too cloying. In my travels around the state the aromas of both the privet and Japanese honeysuckle, which is also blooming now makes for a fragrant ride, although it is messing with my allergies.  Wax leaf ligustrum does not reseed like the common privet or Japanese honeysuckle.

 There are mimosa and privet trees coming up all over my yard, in the flower beds! I've been trying to get rid of them for several years now, to no avail. I cut them down, and they just grow right back, bigger and with more trunks than before. Is there something I can paint on the stumps that will kill them? Or is there some other way to get rid of them once and for all?

 Have you considered moving?! While that may be easier, with perseverance and patience you can take control, but it takes time.  If there is any way to dig out the roots that will help, but they will still send up sprouts. Chances are also good that there is privet in other areas in your community which flower and then set seeds, which the birds eat and drop, resulting in more privet.  Pruning, weed-eating any plants you see, treating the cut area with Round-up or Brush-b-gone (be sure to read label directions and ONLY apply where you don’t have desirable plants that could be damaged) can all help.  Late summer through fall is a better time to kill woody perennials, because they tend to be storing reserves for the winter, and will move the chemicals downward better then too.  But total kill is rarely attained in one season.  Good luck!

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