Golden Privet Roots Damaged By Trenching.
Privet plants and hedges often have the roots cut when trenches for cables, new gas pipes etc are being installed and most of the time the plants manage to recover.
The key to the recovery is to help the plant in the spring and summer following the roots being cut by making sure the plant has enough moisture in dry periods,with the changing weather pattern this might mean watering the plants as early as later winter early spring.The plant will need this additional water whilst it re-grows the lost roots.
In addition to this feeding the plants with a general fertiliser in the spring such as Grow-more and adding an organic mulch around the base of the plants such as spent mushroom compost or well rotted horse or farm yard manure if you are on chalky soil will also aid the recover of the plants.