[Glyn]

I have a privet hedge at the top of my allotment which I about 8foot high, I would like to cut it down to about 5foot, would this be ok or would it kill the hedge and what would be the best way to cut it with?

[sunshineband]

You can really butcher privet and it comes back, so cutting three feet off will be just fine  If you have the option, a heavy duty hedge cutter might do the trick, but check out the thickness of the trunks inside the hedge first to avoid an expensive disaster
 
I would use a pruning saw and cut through everything as you go, piling it to the side, and then tidy up the top and sides afterwards with shears. This is agood time of year to do it, as there is growing to come and this will help it thicken up any bare bits.

Good luck, sounds a big job 
Others may have different suggestions ....

[poultrygeist]

Just make sure there's no bird nests before you attack it.

Other than that, I would agree. We scalp ours and it coems back stronger every time.

Rob

[sunshineband]

Sorry Rob, forgot to mention the birds' nests -- our privet hedge is currently a blackbird nursery 

[SnooziSuzi]

yep, last year I cut my hedge back to its bare bones; all of the greenery gone!

It was about 9' high and easily 6' wide and really difficult to manage, so I cut it back to the main 'trunks' (about 3feet) and cut it down by a couple of feet and just as Rob says, it comes back stronger each time!

I took all of the cut branches to the lotty to season off and this year I'll put them through the chipper to make wood chips for the paths in between the raised beds.  the chooks love scratching through them too!

[celjaci]

Agree privet can be drastically cut back without ill effect.
You can reduce the width as well as the height, sometimes a privet hedge gets wider over the years and you can cut it back and gain 3 ft of garden!

[Christine]

What is it that we plant so many privet hedges and then have to resort to butchering to keep them in control?

[pumpkinpatch]

I have only one word to say to you.And that one word is CHAINSAW 

[SnooziSuzi]

I'm actually going to remove my privets altogether as they are too far forward at the moment, and cutting them right back hasn't helped so I may remove them entirely in favour of a classic 'natural' hedgerow; hawthorns, dogroses and beech or something like it, and I'll underplant them with aqueligia, hostas and other part shade lovers.

[Knoblauch]

I pulled up several old privets recently and have saved heaps of staves from them of varying thicknesses and sizes, if you are cutting it down by quite a bit.  I felt guilty though as there was a nest in one of them, put it into a shoe box and relocated (the parents found it OK though I did feed them a bit myself too) but I think a cat knocked it down later.

When is the nesting season for songbirds officially over? - got blackbirds, robins, thrushes, bluetits, sparrows ...

[superluke2]

Overcut it by 6inches then let it grow back and it's easier to cut the smatter shoots

[grumpydad]

being a gardener by trade, i would agree with the last comment, overcut by about 6" then when you trim it next year it will be easy thin cuttings, just leave the odd thick stem at the height you want, so you have a marker to cut down too.

martyn

[Eatyourgreens]

What is it that we plant so many privet hedges and then have to resort to butchering to keep them in control?

Because we don't keep up with hedge maintenance, let them get out of control, then have to take drastic measures.

And if you think Privet is bad, come and have a look at the Fuschia up here, one or two people look after them properly, but the vast majority just let them grow, you end up with a 12ft tall hedge of pea sticks that just about get covered by leaves just in time for autumn.


Bob