How to Trim an Overgrown Privet

Trim back branch tips on the privet in the spring or summer to temporarily tidy the plant. Remove dead or broken branches by making the pruning cut 1/4 inch above a lower branch junction or pair of leaves. Reduce branch length by 1 to 12 inches if desired, only trimming back to a place where leaves still exist on the branches. Use a hand pruner for twigs less than 3/4 inch in diameter, and loppers on branches up to 1 1/2 inch thick.

Cut back the overgrown privet severely the following late winter or very early spring before the new growth begins. This is known as rejuvenation pruning. Severely cutting back all branches to a height of 2 to 4 feet above ground level reduces plant height and results in dense leafy regrowth by early summer. In two to three years, the privet's growth after rejuvenation pruning will be full and rounded, making tip pruning again possible to shape the plant to an agreeable size for your garden space.

Water the pruned privet as needed to supplement natural rainfall to keep the soil evenly moist. Do not create a soggy soil as this can suffocate roots or encourage fungal diseases. Use a light application of well-balanced, slow-release granular fertilizer -- such as 10-10-10 -- after the rejuvenation pruning in early spring to ensure the plant has the nutrients to produce healthy, robust regrowth.

Trim new growth as needed to prevent overly long or errant sprouts on the rejuvenating privet. If you choose to maintain the privet at a small size, any shearing done must create a shrub silhouette that is slightly wider toward the bottom of the plant. This allows sunlight to reach the lower leaves. From the side, the privet shrub should resemble the form of an A, and not a V. Shrubs pruned wider at the top shade out the lower branches, causing leaves to abort and leaving barren branches that look dead and ugly.