Privet Help

[Treefer]

I bought a privet clump last fall and kept it in an unheated sunroom over the winter. It lost all of its leaves over the winter.

This spring it leafed out nicely except for one of its five trunks which had dwarfed foilage. In early May, the leaves began to curl and drop. The soil seemed a bit wet so I moved it to a free draining mix. Lots of healthy roots of which I trimmed 10%.

Four weeks later, there is no sign of growth. A scratch test on three trunks shows bright cadmium under the bark.

As this is my first privet, I am curious about this
lack of buds. Is it normal for it to take this long?

Thanks.

 

[RoadManDenDron]

Pics would be useful,

To guess without pics I would say the weak growth and losing a branch was the tree telling you it was not healthy

Rule number 1 being never work an unhealthy tree,

Did the other branches retain their leaves? Are they still there?

 

[Treefer]

Nah, it is completely bare but the trunks are still flexible and very green under the bark. I thought there was a root rot issue so I repotted. My pics are not very good so not much help.

 

[Shibui]

Privet are normally very tough - indestructible but I have also had some that sulked after collecting/repotting. I do not know of anything you can do to make a difference so it is just a matter of maintaining care, cross fingers and wait.