How to plant a privet hedge: trench, spacing, nests
Updated: October 2026
You have the plants, or they are on the way, and the figures you have read do not match. One page says about 30 cm apart. Another uses 37.5 cm. A nursery prints plants per metre that change with the size of the root. A June clip can also hit a nest if you treat the hedge as a haircut with no look inside. This guide is from Peter F., editor for DIY & tools, on 20 October 2026. It follows the Royal Horticultural Society, BBC Gardeners' World, and the nest rules that apply in the UK. We did not plant a trial hedge. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. What you ordered is sorted on the [privet comparison](/hub/hedges-and-privacy-screens/privet). The job here is the sequence.
You have the plants, or they are on the way, and the figures you have read do not match. One page says about 30 cm apart. Another uses 37.5 cm. A nursery prints plants per metre that change with the size of the root.
You have the plants, or they are on the way, and the figures you have read do not match. One page says about 30 cm apart. Another uses 37.5 cm. A nursery prints plants per metre that change with the size of the root. A June clip can also hit a nest if you treat the hedge as a haircut with no look inside. This guide is from Peter F., editor for DIY & tools, on 20 October 2026. It follows the Royal Horticultural Society, BBC Gardeners' World, and the nest rules that apply in the UK. We did not plant a trial hedge. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. What you ordered is sorted on the privet comparison. The job here is the sequence.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Form | Pot | Stated height | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Generic Generic green privet, 33 plants | Live plants | 9 cm | 30–50 cm | 7.6 | about £14.45 | View offer |
 Generic Generic green privet, 100 plants | Live plants | 9 cm | 30–50 cm | 8.7 | about £14.45 | View offer | |
| Preis-Tipp |  Generic Border privet seed, 25 | Seeds | n/a | n/a | 4.0 | about £13.50 | View offer |
When to plant
Bare-root privet goes in while it is dormant. BBC Gardeners' World puts that window at November to March. Glebe Farm, as one nursery's selling season rather than a law, lists bare-root ovalifolium from November to April. Plant at the same depth the stem was grown before, so the soil mark on the bark sits level with the new surface. If the bundle has dried in a warm porch, soak the roots before you backfill. Leaving a bare-root bundle in a bag for a fortnight because the weekend was wet is how the plants fail before they are even in the trench. Pot-grown privet, including a 9 cm liner, is not tied to that dormant window. You can plant a container plant in the growing season, provided you water it. The pots in the amazon.co.uk set are still liners at a stated 30–50 cm. They are not a 60–90 cm transplant, and they will not look like a hedge in the first summer. Seed is a different job again. It is not this planting sequence. If the parcel is a packet rather than plants, stop and read the species before you dig a trench for a hedge you do not yet have.
The trench and the boundary
The RHS asks for a strip about 60–90 cm wide and one spit deep, which is roughly the depth of a spade blade, not a narrow slit cut with a spade edge. Loosen the base so roots are not sitting on a smeared pan. Do not bury a layer of compost in the bottom of the trench. The RHS warns against that, because the roots stay in the soft pocket instead of moving into the surrounding soil. Mix any organic matter through the backfill if the ground is poor, then firm with a boot so the plants do not rock. Set the line back from the boundary. The RHS uses about 90 cm as an example for a hedge on the edge of a property, so the face you clip is still on your side when the hedge thickens. Planting in the fence line feels tidy on day one and becomes an argument once the stems are woody and the neighbour's side is your responsibility to reach. A hedge that will block a highway sightline is not a weekend job. That is the point to get advice before you plant, not after the council writes.
How far apart
Quote a spacing with the source attached. The RHS spacing code 3, which it gives ovalifolium in average conditions, is 37.5 cm between plants. BBC Gardeners' World says about 30 cm. Those are close, and they are not the same number. Do not publish an average and call it the official gap. Glebe Farm prints 3 plants per metre for a single row and 5 for a double row, as that seller's density for its bare-root sizes. Other nurseries change the count with height: small bare-root plants are sometimes sold at about 6 per metre, and large root balls nearer 2. Follow the seller of the plants in your hand, then check that figure against the RHS 37.5 cm rather than inventing a compromise. A double row is staggered, not two lines planted opposite each other, or you waste plants and leave a gap you can see through. Mark the centres with canes before you dig the holes, and measure once along a string. On a 10 metre run, 37.5 cm is a different plant order from 30 cm. Buying a bundle and then stretching the gaps to make the plants reach the end is how the hedge stays see-through for years. If you are using 9 cm liners, the closer end of the seller's range is the more forgiving choice, because each plant has less bulk than a 10 litre shrub. It is still their range, not a new rule.
Water, then clip
Water in dry spells through the first two years. Gardeners' World is explicit about that stretch, and the RHS says the same for the early years of a new hedge. A liner in a light soil can stall in one hot fortnight if you assume privet is indestructible. A hose left running until the trench is a pond is the other failure. You want the root zone moist, then a mulch on moist soil so the line does not bake. If whole sections go brown in the first summer, the drought page is the next read, not another pack of the same plants: privet hedge dying. Ligustrum is clipped two or three times in the growing season, not once in August with a blunt hedgecutter. The RHS pruning guidance is that rhythm. One seller guide suggests cutting about a third off the top after planting. The RHS planting page used here does not say that, so treat the tip cut as that seller's tip, not as an RHS instruction. Before any cut, look for a nest in use. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects that nest. The RSPB puts the main season at about March to September. You can still cut outside an active nest if you have checked. In Northern Ireland the equivalent is the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. If you are not sure whether a nest is active, stop. Winter leaf on a healthy hedge is a different question again, on is privet evergreen.
Common questions
How far apart should I plant privet?
Use a named figure. The RHS uses 37.5 cm for ovalifolium in average conditions. Gardeners' World says about 30 cm. Your seller may print plants per metre for the size you bought. Follow that label, and do not average the published numbers into a new spacing.
How many plants per metre?
At 37.5 cm you are near three plants a metre in a single row, which happens to match Glebe Farm's single-row figure of 3 per metre. Glebe's double row is 5 per metre. Some nurseries go higher for small bare-root plants and lower for large root balls. The count follows the size you bought.
When do bare-root plants go in?
Gardeners' World says November to March. Glebe Farm's bare-root ovalifolium season runs November to April. Plant at the original soil mark, and do not let the roots dry out on the path while you finish the trench.
Can I plant pot-grown privet in summer?
Yes, because it is a container plant, including a 9 cm liner. Water it through dry spells. It is still a young plant. Summer planting does not turn a 30–50 cm pot into an instant screen, and bare-root bundles should wait for the dormant season.
How wide should the trench be?
The RHS suggests a strip about 60–90 cm wide and one spit deep. Do not bury compost as a layer in the bottom. Set a boundary hedge back. The RHS example is about 90 cm, so clipping stays on your side once the hedge fills out.
How often do I trim?
Two or three times in the growing season is the RHS rhythm for Ligustrum, rather than one hard cut a year. Check for a nest before you start. The main nesting season the RSPB describes runs from about March to September, and an active nest is protected.
Can I trim in June if I see no nest?
Only after you have looked through the hedge, not after a glance from the path. If a nest is in use, leave it. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 applies in Great Britain. Northern Ireland uses the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. If you cannot tell, do not cut that section.
Should I cut the plants back after planting?
One seller guide says to take about the top third off after planting. The RHS planting page used here does not. If you tip-cut, you are following that seller, not the RHS. Any cut still needs a nest check once birds are nesting.
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)