When Do You Trim Newly Planted Wax Privet?

Planting

• Plant a wax privet shrub in early spring or late fall. The shrub requires partial shade and grows in most soil types as long as the soil is well-drained. If you want a dense hedge, place wax privet plants 6 to 10 feet apart. Plant wax privet at the same soil depth it was planted previously, and add water to the soil as you place it around the plant's roots to remove air pockets in the soil. Adding a 3-inch layer of mulch on top of the soil over the shrub's root zone will control weeds and regulate soil moisture.

Trimming After Planting

• A newly planted wax privet shrub is pruned right after it is planted. Remove the limbs more than 6 inches long by cutting them back to the ground or a main stem. The remaining growth on the shrub should be about 6 inches high when you finish pruning. That height encourages thick new growth from the bottom of the plant. Shearing or cutting all the top growth to one level is not a preferred pruning method. When sheared, the top growth shades the lower growth, creating a woody, unattractive shrub or hedge.

Pruning in the Future

• If the wax privet forms a hedge for which you desire a formal appearance, then shear the hedge the first year after it was planted and each spring thereafter. The top of wax privet, whether the plant is a standalone shrub or used as a hedge, must be narrower than the bottom portion so sunlight reaches the bottom portion. If you prefer a natural or informal look for the plant, continue to cut unruly limbs to the ground or to a main branch. If you wish to train the shrub into a small tree, remove all except one of its trunks, and allow that main trunk to form while carefully shaping the tree each year by cutting undesirable growth back to a main stem.

Caring for the Plant

• Wax privet is highly adaptable and can handle intense heat and even drought after it is established in its location. It wilts when it doesn't receive regular watering, however. So an occasional deep soaking is advisable during long periods of dry weather. Allow water to run over the plant's root zone until the ground is moist to a depth of 6 inches. A standard shrub fertilizer can be used as directed on its label if you wish to increase a wax privet's growth, but using fertilizer usually is not necessary when the plant lives in its USDA plant hardiness zones.