nasty nasty plants

[dinsdale]

I have a problem with kids climing my wall & cutting through the garden to go to the local shop. did not mind when it was one not so often but now its just silly. I have been advised by several people, including the police, to plant nasty thorns and plants along my garden wall and gate wall at the other end. Any suggestions on what would work best?

[Cugetit]

pyracantha

[FKNelectro]

how about a giant venus-fly-trap-like plant like in little shop of horrors? im sure that would work.. =]

[dinsdale]

thanks for that Cugetit, does it look nice too?

[Ice.Maiden]

Berberis!!!!

[Cugetit]

Yes, orange flowers and berries. Wood pigeons are quite keen on the berries. I have cursed the needle like thorns many a time when pruning same. Good luck.

[codgers'kid]

i would try a pellet gun myself.

[dinsdale]

well codgers'kid, myself I would have liked to have used a shotgun, but as we live in the UK, i think its best to solve the problem on the correct side of the law

[Disco Fever]

All you need is a lot of carpet gripper rod and some grip fast. Stick the gripper rod to your wall with the grip fast and make sure the nails are pointing away from the wall so when the kids try and climb the wall the nails get em and they cant get off, it works on my garden fence....

[Hawkwalk]

How about a rambling rose. This will be fairly quick growing and can be trained along a wall.

[rosiewesti]

We have recently had a spate of attempted breakins by a group of youths, the police advised us to plant Pyracantha as the thorns are extremely sharp. Our neighbour has one and boy is it sharp - she has to wear industrial thick gloves to prune it!
I have just bought 2 from the local garden centre and they cost �8.99 each - planting them today. (only one area of our garden wall intruders can get over)
Had a look on a gardening site and they state the following;

"The firethorns are all tough, very hardy shrubs which tolerate a wide range of demanding conditions, including shaded and exposed positions, and make dense thorny evergreen growth ideal for intruder-proof hedging or for training on walls to display their profuse and brightly coloured berries"
Best of luck!

[hammerman]

Be careful with the carpet gripper...you'll probably be up on an assult charge if one of the little darlings hurt themselves.

As for plants, you want something with a lot of nasty, hard thorns that looks nice and grows quick. There are many species of Berberis which can vary from tame to unbelievably evil (B. Gagnepaignii), climbing or rambling roses, pyrecanthera is good but not that quick growing but the undisputed king of the thorns has to go to Rubus or ornamental bramble. The tall (3m) R. ************* (i kid you not) gives you leaves in the summer and gorgeous snow white stems throughout winter.
Chop it back to the ground every other year and it'll do the job and look good.

[hammerman]

Blimey...they deleted it !!!

c o c k b u r n i a n u s

Let's see if that works

[wiggal]

Hey, not much help with plants!
But I know that when I was younger, we used to climb up on top of the garages behind the local shops, and in the end they painted the top of the wall with a funny kind of brown paint that never really dried! that put a quick end to us climbing up there, and you can also tell the people who have tried as it doesnt com off clothes too well!!

[Jenga]

As already suggested pyracantha. I had one in my last garden and it grew really well and tall and it very prickly. It has beautiful white flowers in the late spring and red or orange berries in the autumn. The blackbirds and wood pigeons love the berries. I have now moved house and bought 3 for this outer wall which kids can climb over.

[Kleiber]

I'll ditto pyracantha & berberis. You could also try japonica, as they've got thorns as well (not half as good as pyracantha, though, but at least you can use the fruits.), or what about blackthorn (sloe) - again, you can use the fruits & sit there, sipping your sloe gin, whilst listening to the screams of the little blighters, getting tangled up in the thorns!!

[egrow]

Gorse is very good as a deterrent and attractive too.Please see wwwegrowuk.bttradespace.com on gorse seeds and www.egrow.co.uk on the egrow sales page.You will have lovely yellow flowers for many months of the year.Best wishes. egrow.