Golden Privet - Ligustrum vicaryi

The Ligustrum (x) vicaryi is a variety of golden privet that is easy to cultivate and grows quickly, perfect for quickly creating a screen that is both ornamental due to the brightness of its golden foliage in spring, pleasantly scented with white flowers in summer, and adorned with beautiful black berries late in the season. This semi-evergreen bush tolerates pruning very well and adapts well to container cultivation, making it also very useful for getting greenery onto terraces and large balconies. 

The Ligustrum (x) vicaryi is a horticultural hybrid resulting from the cross-breeding between the Ligustrum ovalifolium Aureum, native to Japan and Korea, and the L. vulgare, the common privet native to Europe. All these plants belong to the olive family, just like lilacs and forsythias. It is a medium-sized bush with a bushy habit as well as upright and very vigorous stems that can be kept compact by regular pruning. Growing rapidly, the golden privet measures about 2 m (6.6 ft) in height and 1.75 m in width. Its foliage, usually semi-evergreen, consists of glossy, narrow and ovate, lanceolate leaves, yellow-golden in spring, measuring between 3 and 7 cm (2.8 in) in length and appearing very early in the season. In summer, the foliage takes on a bright light green color. In June-July, small, very fragrant and nectar-rich creamy white flowers appear in panicles measuring 5 to 10 cm (3.9 in). In autumn these give way to small spherical black berries, which remain for part of the winter. The leaves, flowers, and fruits of the privet are toxic to humans and animals if ingested. 

Ornamental due to its foliage, compact and bushy habit, the Golden Privet can be planted in multiple ways:

- For the creation of hedges and screens, due to the density of its luminous foliage, its medium size, its hardiness, its very dense branching, and its high tolerance for repeated pruning. It is easy to shape it as desired, making it perfectly suitable for the art of bonsai. It is also well-suited for topiary pruning (in ball or other shapes), or even trained as a standard or half-standard and cultivated in a pot. Finally, it will have a beautiful effect when associated with other pruned bushes, playing with the form and colour of the foliage to create a minimalist, graphic effect. It also lends itself very well to planting in groups, mass planting, borders, rock gardens, specimen planting, or wild hedges.

- It can be grown in alongside other shrubs (Photinia, Eleagnus, St. John's Wort, Kerria japonica, whitebeam) and perennial plants (daylily, Verbena bonariensis, tree lupin) by leaving it to grow naturally, creating a beautiful flowering informal hedge and taking advantage of its lovely foliage and pretty flowers. It is possible that the roots of the privet may  be harmful to certain perennial plants planted at its base so as a precaution, leave a sufficient planting distance around the base.

Properties:

With its highly fragrant flowers that contain a lot of pollen, making it very nectar-rich, this privet contributes to the protection of the bee population. Its pollen can be allergenic for certain individuals who are sensitive to it. It has a very high resistance to pollution.