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Suspect Honey Fungus its highly susceptible and before retirement a few months ago we were seeing a lot of it, whether the weather has suited it and hence the increase?
As to replacement I would not use Photinia it has a rather open habit and does not make a dense hedge.
Consider Grisilinia, Yew , Holly ,Beech, Hornbeam, Eleagnus. I know Grisilinia and Yew are not susceptible to Honey Fungus, not sure on the rest but remember Yew does not like wet feet. I would probably go for the Grisilinia based on cost, appearance and speed of growth. Hope that helps?
I would agree with Peter's suggestion of Grisilinia. I have some in a mixed shrub hedge, and it makes an excellent hedge. It's quite fast growing, but upright in growth as well, meaning that it keeps its shape well without too much side shoots (unlike Beech for example)
Is this an isolated stretch of privet Clive or all the privet in general ?
Worrying if it's all the local privet , I know of flourishing privet over 70 years old .
Do you know when the affected privet was last pruned , I am thinking is it stressed due to extreme climate changes .
All the replacement hedges Peter suggests would be great choices .
One I would add is evergreen escallonia hedging , pink flowering , Have maintained this on a new development and it was very effective and relatively cost effective ,also fit in with surrounding plantings of Portuguese laurel ,bay and hornbeam .
Avoid photinia as already pointed out .
Hi thanks for the help,it starts in patches about the size of a football in several hedges, then a whole section dieing back then skipping some parts.
I know privet is susceptible to honey fungus but It could be something else affecting the box , other causes to eliminate before suspecting honey fungus .
Is the privet a party hedge dividing properties ? Often I have seen shrubs planted in borders in front of privet and when the shrub is removed or it's height dramatically reduced the privet is generally dead behind being starved of light and competing for nutrients , the wood is brittle and you can just pull it out but because the shrub blocking out the light was in situ it was impossible to detect the affected privet was dead .
Is the privet and box planted next to a street road , the other thing to rule out is weed spraying from quad bikes or careless application from a napsack on a windy day and the spray drifting onto both the privet and box .
think it's mainly been the drought as the major stress factor, obviously any hedge is a row of individual plants competing with each other and everything else, and one part of the hedge maybe have more favourable access to water or root space etc, privet is tough but many other shrubs/trees will have died this summer, which may take months yet to show
i quite like photinia, quick to get to a good size, yes not so dense but it depends on the customer's requirements, to me its like the difference between solid wood fence and a trellis with plants on, still marks the boundary but not as claustrophobic, and that red new growth has the wow factor. Another good plant for hedging are the newer cultivars of portugeuse laurel