Ah, ligustrum - the meanest of all mean shrubs. Yes, it can take a ruthless pruning and with the size of yours probably with a chain saw. You've probably noticed that ligustrum leafs out all along the trunks so it has the incredible ability to regenerate from stumps.

It was a builder's special in Maryland and I had only one with interestingly twisted, gnarly trunks so I simply pruned the best branches into a puffy topiary, showcasing the nice trunks. Always seemed to have bugs on the undersides of the leaves and the waxy leaves would get imbedded in the lawn and were almost impossible to rake up.

Does make a dandy hedge - google images for ligustrum and there are pages of ideas for shearing and pruning.

Proper rejuvenation pruning entails cutting the plant back to 6 inch stumps, not 2 feet. You'll get an enormous bounty of brand new succulent growth, which will be very easy to train on an annual basis. But I personally think that having such a hedge would be 'not so nice' looking.

You might want to select one or two (or more) of these to limb up and shape into interesting tree forms. Select something away from the power lines. These shrubs make terrific small trees, though it would not be my choice to trim the top growth into puffy topiaries.

Don't forget your third option: removal of all or some of these plants. We forget that, sometimes. Don't be held 'hostage' by the bad landscaping decisions of a previous owner.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:258044}}

Rhizo-

Thanks for your help. I will only be living here for a year so I'd rather not rip them all out but I do want to cut them back as much as possible.

Also, I recently noticed little black spots on many of the leaves. And I suspect this fungus is what killed the other 7-8 ligustrum trees that I have removed. Do you think cutting them back so far will help fight this disease if I also treat the new scars with fungicide?

I was given a ligustrum tree as a gift last February 2008. I followed the directions of watering, etc. It is planted in a very sunny area (southern exposure) It immediately started to drop leaves (brown) I left in June 08 and my sister watered weekly. I returned this October and the tree was without leaves (except for a few small new growth leaves). I called the nursery that sold it to us and they said it was dying due to a fungus due to lack of water and would not replace it. I need help. Can I prune it back and hope it come back to life. It has small leaves trying to come back (we have fertilized it regularly and watered it for the past 2 1/2 months) I think if we prune of the dead limb areas that it might come back. Can you offer me any help? Thanks, grammy Judy