Ligustrums make a very good hedge and some people like their flowers in the Spring. Here in Houston I've grown vegetable gardens close to ligustrum hedges and not noticed any adverse effects.

Depending on what kind of ligustrums, I think they can be very nice. I think it is Japanese Ligustrum maybe that gets to be tree size - 10 to 20 ft. These can be pruned in a bonsai fashion and can have a very nice asian/chinese look that I think is lovely.

I'm planning on taking a couple of cuttings from my neighbors "ligustrum tree" which is about 15 ft in height and plant in my yard. I've bought the wire already that I will need so I can start "training" it early for those lovely horizontal branches that add a nice look. I also think the blooms in the spring are very nice though some are allergic.

They handle clay soil pretty well and are evergreen which is an extra plus, IMO. But I don't like ligustrum the way it sounds like they were planted in your yard, as a foundation hedge that needs to be pruned every year straight across the top, very boring IMO.

Ligustrums are great at screening an area from view - great for breaking your yard up into "rooms" or hiding a utility area. Once established they are tolerent of drought as well.

If you don't want them, I am sure you can give them away to neighbors.

ugh...spare your neighbors. A house across the street has these shading the west side of their house. The birds eat the seeds and spread them all over the neighborhood. I'm constantly pulling up sprouts in my yard. Mowing them over doesn't kill them.

Since you back up to a park...you should consider how invasive this non-native can be.

They are considered to be invasive.

Check out this link:

Here is a link that might be useful: City of Austin invasive species list

"Ligustrum! HUH! Good God ya'll! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

Okay, sorry about that one. You may groan and roll your eyes at will. I couldn't resist!

And for the record, they're not that bad. :)

You can put an add in Craigslist under FREE -- I am sure that someone will want them. I have some growing in a flower bed in my front yard. The previous owners actually paid good money for them -- we trimmed the heck out of them today and found a Home Depot tag. We have been in our house for about a year now, and I don't like them, so that is why we are trimming them to almost nothing.

You can cut them down to the ground but they'll be back. You have to dig them out and even then... John Dromgoole from the Natural Gardener nursery calls the Wax Leaf Digustrums. I can't stand them but my husband continues to defend them. How am I supposed to be certified a wild life habitat with them and china berry trees. China berry trees are the worst. Messy seeds and they come up everywhere. Yuck.

I'm at a loss as to what they are good for. They are ugly, boring, non-native, invasive... I'm not a big fan of most green bushes. I think boxwoods were invented to drive gardeners crazy.
Tally HO!

""Ligustrum! HUH! Good God ya'll! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

ROTFL!

oh - and WHY do boxwoods smell like cat pee???? I just hate that. I used to think it was just the one clump attracted cats there to pee. But in my new neighborhood, they are everywhere and they all stink! yuck!

I vote for the compost heap! :-D

Over-planted, can be aggressive - and black spot! Why would anyone put up with anything less than a rose for that?

The city of Austin is asking for volunteers to help girdle the ligustrum that has taken over the park, in an attempt to get rid of the invasive non-native.

I have had one for years that is trained into Pompoms. Like this: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pompom+legustrium&t=brave&iax=images&ia=images

Decades ago I planted 5 wax-leaf ligustrum (L. japonicum Texanum) in front of an ugly fence. They have stood up to drought and deluge, and were never bothered by deer. The February freeze seemed to have killed them, and this variety is supposed to only be hardy to zone 8b. Since then I've intended to cut them down, but this week I noticed they are putting out new shoots. Still seems like an excellent opportunity for a radical trim.

Well, I'm encouraged. 2 of my four waxleaf Ligustrum are pusshing out leaf shoots through the outer bark now, down real low. Perhaps the other two will do the same.

Buttoni, I love my Sunshines! I was so worried I’d lost them this winter. But they’re tough. :)

Took these yesterday. I have six in three different beds, you can see one is still looking frail, but should bounce back just fine.

I love how soft they are, and of course the color.

I can’t remove this Red Tip (rent house), but love the Sunshines peeking around it.

My babies. I planted them last Fall. Ripped out two Knockouts with RRD. Lost a lantana, in front of dwarf Yaupon Holly here:

This bed had a tough go of it:

Here's where I planted my 6 Sunshine ligustrums (one hidden by the rose bush in front):

Funny thing, that rose bush in front of the Sunshine ligustrums has been the sickest, puniest little twig for 5 years and never EVER bloomed. The stump of the huge Cherry Laurel tree removed in February is right beside it and no doubt, prevented it from thriving. I think that rose bush will take off now as that stump rots away over the next couple years.