UK privet hedging plants: pots, bare root, or seed
Updated: October 2026
You can spend about £13.50 or about £14.45 on amazon.co.uk and still not know whether a parcel is a hedge. The four listings kept in this comparison share that narrow shelf price and almost nothing else. Two state young garden privet in 9 cm pots. Two are seed of other Ligustrum species. This guide is from Peter F., editor for DIY & tools, using listings saved on 19 October 2026 and public UK sources checked on 20 October 2026. We did not grow the plants. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The [privet comparison](/hub/hedges-and-privacy-screens/privet) sorts those four ASINs side by side.
You can spend about £13.50 or about £14.45 on amazon.co.uk and still not know whether a parcel is a hedge. The four listings kept in this comparison share that narrow shelf price and almost nothing else.
You can spend about £13.50 or about £14.45 on amazon.co.uk and still not know whether a parcel is a hedge. The four listings kept in this comparison share that narrow shelf price and almost nothing else. Two state young garden privet in 9 cm pots. Two are seed of other Ligustrum species. This guide is from Peter F., editor for DIY & tools, using listings saved on 19 October 2026 and public UK sources checked on 20 October 2026. We did not grow the plants. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The privet comparison sorts those four ASINs side by side.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Form | Species | Pack | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Generic Generic green privet, 33 plants | Live plants | Ligustrum ovalifolium | 33 plants | 7.6 | about £14.45 | View offer |
 Generic Generic green privet, 100 plants | Live plants | Ligustrum ovalifolium | 100 plants | 8.7 | about £14.45 | View offer | |
| Preis-Tipp |  Generic Border privet seed, 25 | Seeds | Ligustrum obtusifolium | 25 (bullet says 1 Pc) | 4.0 | about £13.50 | View offer |
On this page
What the four listings actually are
The two plant pages are both printed as Ligustrum ovalifolium, the garden privet people clip into a formal boundary. The Royal Horticultural Society describes that species as not native to Great Britain or Ireland, and as semi-evergreen or evergreen. That winter behaviour is a separate decision, covered on is privet evergreen. Listing B0BBQG739W states 100 plants, 30–50 cm, in 9 cm pots, at about £14.45, and the listing has no star rating. Listing B0B9XYK1CT states 33 plants of the same height and pot at the same about £14.45, rated 1.0 from one review with no written text. Both pages spell the name Ovalfolium. Neither is golden privet and neither is wild privet. The other two listings are packets. B0BR81H6CW is border privet, Ligustrum obtusifolium, titled 25 SEMI at about £13.50, while a bullet says 1 Pc. B0BR5RH61Z is Japanese privet, Ligustrum japonicum, titled as five seeds at about £14.45, with the same clash against a 1 Pc bullet. Neither gives a germination rate, a pot size, or a plant height.
Bare root, a 9 cm pot, and seed
A stated 9 cm pot at 30–50 cm is a liner. It is a young plant you grow on. It is not a 60–90 cm bare-root transplant, and it is not a 5 litre or 10 litre shrub. Because the plants are in pots, you can plant them outside the bare-root window, though a pot that small still needs water while it roots. The sequence itself is on how to plant a privet hedge. Bare-root garden privet is the dormant bundle nurseries sell for a winter plant. Glebe Farm lists bare-root ovalifolium from November to April. ScotPlants Direct, as a seller guide, puts bare root at about November to March. That is a season, not a guarantee that a given amazon.co.uk parcel was lifted in those months. Seed skips the choice. You are starting a plant, not taking home a hedge.
How many plants per metre
How many plants you need per metre is not one official figure. The RHS spacing code 3, which it applies to ovalifolium in average conditions, is 37.5 cm. Glebe Farm prints 3 plants per metre in a single row and 5 in a double row, as that nursery's own density. BBC Gardeners' World uses about 30 cm. Leave those numbers next to the source that published them. An average of 30 cm and 37.5 cm would be a spacing nobody recommended. If the seller of the plants you actually buy prints a density, follow that label, then check it against the RHS figure rather than against a blended guess. These listings do not print a spacing.
What a metre of hedge costs
About £14.45 is the price of a pack on these pages. It is not a price per metre of finished hedge. If 100 plants really arrive, that is about 14 pence a plant. The sum collapses the moment the box holds fewer. The 33-plant listing is the same about £14.45, so the stated price per plant is roughly three times higher. The seed packets sit in the same band and buy neither a metre of hedge nor a known germination rate. Nursery prices are context, not a substitute for these ASINs. Glebe Farm's bare-root ovalifolium, with VAT included, runs about £0.99–£1.79 for plants in the 40–90 cm band, and only from November to April. A rule of thumb from those figures, not a quote for the amazon.co.uk packs: 3 plants per metre at £1.09–£1.79 is about £3.30–£5.40 per metre before delivery.
What to check before you pay
Read the species before you compare piece counts. Garden privet, wild privet, border privet, and Japanese privet are four plants. Golden privet is still ovalifolium, the cultivar 'Aureum', and it is not what these two green packs state. If the title says 100 and the parcel is short, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the route for goods that are not as described. Photograph the count before you throw the packaging away. The same check matters on the seed pages, where 25 and 1, or 5 and 1, are both printed. The RHS and the Horticultural Trades Association say Ligustrum is harmful if eaten, including for dogs. None of these four pages is a finished hedge. The 100-plant listing is only the stronger of the two liner packs if the count is real.
Common questions
Is a 9 cm pot a hedge plant or a liner?
A 9 cm pot at a stated 30–50 cm is a young liner you grow on. It is not a 60–90 cm bare-root plant and not a 10 litre shrub. You can still plant it as the start of a hedge, though the screen is years away compared with a tall pot. Other shops' 9 cm golden privet is often shorter still, around 15–30 cm, and those prices are not these listings.
When can I plant bare-root privet?
Glebe Farm sells bare-root ovalifolium from November to April. ScotPlants Direct, as a seller guide, puts the bare-root window at about November to March and pot-grown plants outside that. The 9 cm amazon.co.uk packs are container plants, so they are not limited to that dormant window, but they are still small.
Why is 100 plants the same price as 33 plants?
Both garden-privet listings show about £14.45 in the files saved on 19 October 2026. One title states 100 plants and the other states 33. That is the same shelf price for very different counts. Treat it as a listing fact, not as proof that both parcels will match the title when they arrive.
Are the seed packets the same species as the pots?
No. The pots are Ligustrum ovalifolium. The about £13.50 packet is Ligustrum obtusifolium. The other about £14.45 packet is Ligustrum japonicum. They are not substitutes for a garden privet hedge, and neither seed file states a germination rate.
How many plants do I need per metre?
Quote the source you are following. The RHS uses 37.5 cm for ovalifolium in average conditions. Glebe Farm prints 3 per metre in a single row and 5 in a double row. Gardeners' World uses about 30 cm. Do not average those figures into one spacing.
Is garden privet the same as wild privet?
No. Garden privet is Ligustrum ovalifolium, which the RHS says is not native. Wild privet is Ligustrum vulgare, which is native and is the plant people choose when flowers and wildlife matter more than a tight formal screen. These two pot listings state ovalifolium only.
Will this pack stay green all winter?
The RHS calls ovalifolium semi-evergreen or evergreen. A cold, exposed garden can still drop a lot of leaf. A seed title that says evergreen is not a winter trial. How much privacy you keep in January depends on the site and the species, not on the about £14.45 shelf price.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices and the one review line are from the four listings in this comparison, saved on 19 October 2026. Page updated October 2026.
- RHS, Choosing a hedge (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- RHS, Ligustrum ovalifolium (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- RHS, Planting a hedge (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- RHS, Pruning hedges (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, section 66 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, High hedges: complaining to the council (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BBC Gardeners' World, How to grow a privet hedge (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Horticultural Trades Association, Harmful plants (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Glebe Farm, Hedging privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) (retrieved 20 October 2026)