LIGUSTRUM LUCIDUM

LIGUSTRUM LUCIDUM

There are over fifty species of this privet and in some areas it is actually considered a weed and is totally ignored as anything you would want to grow.

However I think that the Iigustrum makes a wonderful bonsai material and I have worked a couple of these for my collection.

I have one Ligustrum that is five years old and it has been in training now for three years.

I’m training the plant as a shohin bonsai and it will eventually make a very nice specimen.

It takes a few years to develop the trunk for a shohin and so you must have time and patience.

The Ligustrum if left to grow outside the confines of a pot can reach heights of over thirty feet. It does well as a tree if trained to grow up right and in the style of a tree otherwise it is more of a shrub.

Most varieties have a glossy leaf and some to the point that they may look waxed. The variety that I have in my collection does not have the glossy type leaf and I’m still unsure exactly what variety that it is.

I have researched many plant books but have still not found this particular kind but of course I will continue to look. The plant can have creamy white flowers sometimes in April or May and even as late as June.

It does produce a berry but they are poisonous and certainly not for eating. I would recommend washing your hands after handling or cutting on this plant.

The origin of the Ligustrum is Korea, China, and Japan. They are very hardy and can even be a nuisance if left alone to grow unattended.

The Chinese have used this plant for medicinal purposes for many years, the berries are employed as a yin tonic in there medicine and used for many conditions.

This plant will do well indoors and can be trained in all manner of shape and style if you work at it. The limbs can get very brittle fairly fast so if you plan to wire this plant then you must start when the limbs are young and still pliable.

This plant has been used widely for hedge type separation of yards and has also been used as a common tree in street plantings for years.

Care of this plant is fairly straight forward; it can be encouraged to branch by continued pinching and cutting back of new growth. You’ll need to water your Ligusturm Privet often as they will dry out fast especially as bonsai.

Plant in a well drained soil to prevent root rot and faster draining of any excess water. The plant can withstand full sun or part shade, and you’ll need to repot this plant nearly every year as it grows fast and can get root bound in a hurry.

You can easily propagate this plant from softwood cuttings or grafting or from seed. Some times the cuttings will even root in just water.

A general purpose fertilizer will work for this plant just fine and you should feed it during the season from spring till early fall and then let it grow on its own until the next season before fertilizing any more.

Some of the pests for this plant are aphids and spider mites white fly and of course root rot.

The leafs of the Ligustrum will tend to droop and wilt fast if your under watering and after a while you’ll get the hang of its watering needs. Shohin bonsai are extremely prone to drying out fast as they are in very tiny pots in almost all cases.

The idea of a Shohin is to try and develop a very nice large trunk and still have the entire plant in a small pot and have the plant not over ten inches in total height.

I sometimes have to water my Shohin twice a day even inside. I keep a very close watch on these little plants and really love all of them.

If you decide that you would like to try your hand at growing one of these plants then you can most likely find a nice start at one of your local nursery or if you like you can take a look on one of the bonsai sites on the net and most likely find a nice one.

Thanks for reading and viewing. Harold Yearout
©Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved
For more information feel free to Contact Me.