A privet hedge alone doesn't just look monotonous. It also makes it easy for weeds. However, if you plant the right plants under your privet hedge, you can improve its appearance, push out weeds and also protect the soil from drying out for longer.
Which plants are suitable for underplanting the privet hedge?
You can use ground cover as well as perennials, bulbous plants, ferns and grasses to underplant a privet hedge, as long as they areshallow-rooted,shade-tolerantandlow in growth are. For example, the following are ideal:
- Small Periwinkle and Golden Strawberry
- Purple bells and fairy flowers
- worm fern and striped fern
- Lily of the valley and winter aconites
- Japan sedge and bearskin grass
Planting privet hedges with ground cover plants
So that the soil in which the privet is rooted does not dry out so quickly, it makes sense to underplant it with ground cover plants. Even ground cover plants that spread out and form a kind of carpet over time are ideal. What is superficially important is that they toleratepoor lighting conditionsand compete little with privet in terms of water and nutrientsThey are suitable, among other things:
- Fat Man
- Small Periwinkle
- Carpet Knotweed
- Ivy
- Golden strawberry
- Cotoneaster
Planting privet hedges with perennials
Since privet is a shallow-rooted plant, you should be careful when planting under it with perennials. Focus onshallow-rooted plants, which produce pretty blooms at best and glow in the presence of dark-leaved privet. These partial shade-tolerant perennials are predestined:
- Sun Beauty
- Evergreen Candytuft
- Elf Flower
- Caucasusforget-me-not
- Purple bells
Planting privet hedges with ferns
Ferns also look attractive at the foot of a privet hedge. However, large ferns have no place here. Therefore, limit yourself to the smaller specimens that know how to deal with temporarilydry soilsandlow sunlight. The following ferns are suitable for underplanting a Ligustrum vulgare hedge:
- worm fern
- Spotted Fern
- Striped fern
- Lady fern
- Small shield fern
Underplanting privet hedges with onion plants
Onion plants can be planted almostat any timeas underplanting on the privet hedge. You don't need to place the bulbsdeep in the soil. Since the privet is visually very simple and is mainly present with its green foliage, numerous onion plants go well with it. Whether white, yellow, purple or flowering in another color - they all look fantastic near the privet hedge:
- Lily of the valley
- Winterlings
- Snowdrops
- Hyacinths
- Dwarf Daffodils
Planting privet hedges with grasses
Grasses contrast the privet hedge quite magically andenvelop the root areawith their multitude of emerging stalks. In addition, theydisplaceeffectively with their robustness and assertiveness. However, make sure that the grasses are shade-tolerant and do not grow taller than 40 cm.
- Japan sedge
- Mountain sedge
- Bearskin Grass
- Japanese mountain grass
Tip
Implement underplanting as early as possible
Plan well in advance and carefully. It is advisable to plant the underplanting as early as possible. Otherwise you can injure the privet's flatly spread roots.
