Everything you mention looks typical for these. Left not pruned they will fill in on their own. Also if you don't prune them this will happen faster. As will root establishment.

Ok thank you. Everything I've read says to prune early by cutting just above buds, to produce new shoots and to fill out the shrub into a hedge eventually. I did prune a few but I'll take your word for it and leave the rest as is. I was more concerned with the way the leaves were looking, compared to the leaves of an established privet hedge

Normal.

you have a lot of expectations for something planted in last 3 weeks ..

personally.. i cut off nothing for one year ... its time to grow a root mass .. not cut of food making machines.. aka leaves ...

and even then.. i only prune to keep them in size ...

it really makes little sense.. to cut stuff off.. to make a plant thicker or bigger ... if you really stop and think it out ...

no matter what your demands ... its going to take a few years.. for your hedge to develop ...

doesnt look like you dug much of a hole, based on rocks .. were the plants root bound in the pot.. did you do anything to remedy such.. if there was ...

ken

All the researching I've done on wax leaf privet and using them as a formal hedge say to prune as soon as you plant. That's the only reason it made sense to me.

i tilled about 3 feet wide by about 400ft long before I planted, then put the rock back for watershed reasons

If you want a tall, narrowish, dense hedge as soon as possible, place a 6-8' stake near the base and tie those long whips to the stake vertically. Keep tying as new whips develop. Regular watering for plentiful growth is needed. The stems will firm up and remain vertical, and then branch off, forming the basic vertical structure for a plant that is taller and more narrow than those left to themselves. The branches can then be clipped to form the hedge.

This is a recent method growers are now using for Ligustrum japonicum used for hedging, as the demand in Southern California is for tall narrow privacy as lots get smaller and smaller. Some place like Walter Andersen Nursery may have examples of these for sale in the 10-20 gallon size that you can have a look at to see how it is done. The stake on these is just visible in the red circle:

Then you end up with this:

Hoovb thanks for the info, I'll check that out. I'm in San Diego but have a couple acres, so I'm not too concerned about them being too wide. But I like that idea for areas within the yard that I'm limited on space.

Embothrium, thanks. I keep getting told one extreme or the other. Prune em young to promote a dense shrub is a must, or don't prune them because you'll stunt foliage and root growth.