I once attached my bird feeder to a 12 foot tall privet in my back yard. I did not know what it was at the time, and took this picture of it. The small tree was thin and scraggly, but it served my purpose nicely despite its weak limbs. I learned the name of the tree and how invasive it was when I saw privet like mine on a hiking trail at Boundary Waters park. There, the privet had aggressively crowded out native vegetation so that the trail was nothing but uninteresting privet thickets, some as high as 30 feet. When I saw 
there were small privet trees sprouted and growing near my tree, I got rid of my privet.
Privet is a fragrant flowering shrub or tree that belongs to the olive family. Of about 50 species of privet, the Chinese privet, or Ligustrum sinense, is the most common species of privet in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Since its introduction into the United States in 1852 as an ornamental shrub, it has spread quickly through purchases at nurseries, by birds carrying seeds, and by root sprouts. The tree’s attractive features are its small, white clusters of flowers that have a sweet, overpowering smell in spring, and its small evergreen leaves that contrast with the drabness of winter. Though privet has attractive qualities, it is primarily the tree’s 
invasive nature that has made the tree so common.
Privet can be trimmed to make a hedge, and has had interesting uses as such. Since 1929 the University of Georgia has maintained a Chinese privet hedge around its Sanford stadium field. This was to emulate the rose hedge in the Pasadena Rose Bowl (roses don’t grow as well in Georgia). Another way privet has been used as such is when farmers tried planting privet to make natural, impenetrable barriers of hedges to keep in livestock, as it grows quickly and in thickets. However, they found it spread too aggressively and was very hard to kill.
Chinese privet is easy to identify. Its evergreen 
leaves are about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, are elliptical in shape, and they have no teeth. They are oppositely arranged, two per leaf node, and the nodes are usually less than an inch apart. The leaf stalk is about 1/8 inch long and is covered with hairs. Privet blooms in profusion in cone shaped, branching clusters that are 2 to 4 inches long. The flowers are sweet and aromatic, blooming April to June, and are a respiratory irritant for many. Though they are pollinated by bees, there seem to be fewer bees in areas of privet than areas without them. The small black privet berries are produced in clusters and are spread by birds in the winter. These berries are 
poisonous to most wildlife.
Privet has been used as an ornamental, and may still be bought at some nurseries. However, not only do native plants suffer from encroachment of privet, but so do the animal populations that thrive on those native plants. Privet at first appears pretty, sweet smelling and useful, but closer inspection reveals it to be very invasive and to be avoided.
