Plant Privet With Caveats

David Beaulieu, About's Landscaping Guide describes how to plant privet hedge with several caveats: they are poisonous; they are not evergreen in the North; they are not very attractive; they are invasive. I want to add another - they can complicate neighbor relations.

Dr. Jim Miller, forest ecologist, indicates that privet is an aggressive and troublesome plant. Privet forms in dense thickets and will take over forests, fields and right-of-ways. It colonizes by rootsprouting and seed production, the seeds then spread by birds and other animals.

• How to Kill Privet

My Neighbor's Privet Hedge Taking Over My Drive - Photo by Steve Nix, Licensed to About.com