Defensive Planting

A number of citrus tree cultivars have thorny limbs. Espaliering thorny fruit trees may be an option in creating deterrent barriers that are aesthetically pleasing and useful food producers.

What Kind of Citrus Tree Has Thorns? | Home Guides | SF Gate



Via: HELLOmynameisHeather

 

Ditch Witch is right on concerning pryracantha, it is one tough bush. It is very drought tolerant once it is established. Here in the southwest it has no real problems with pests or diseases. The quail like it. About the prickly pear cactus, the fruits are real good when completely ripe, however lots of seeds. It spreads fairly quickly but not invasive because it is so easy to cut back and it does not have a huge root base.

 

This is what has kept us from putting thorny stuff outside our kids bedroom windows. You would need a really thick or sturdy blanket to not get poked by some thorns. Also what is small enough that a blanket or carpeting will cover for escape, may not even be big enough to deter someone from using that window in the first place.

It's really a matter of give and take, how much protection do you need from an external threat vs. the ability to exit your residence in a hurry.

@VHestin , I should send you some of my blackberry plants. They are wild, and I can't seem to kill them off. The canes can get to 10'+ and the thorns go right through leather work gloves.

 

Hey have you ever seen squash bugs hit prickly pear? There's an empty house across the railroad tracks with a humongous cactus patch. I was over there the other day (a friend owns the place) and I saw hoards of squash bugs on the prickly pears. They'd killed off several sections. That's the first time I'd ever seen them on one but clearly they were enjoying themselves.

 

That is interesting. I have never seen that. It figures, squash bugs are the bane of my existence .

 

It just made me wonder if the filthy buggers were evolving to a new food source. I'd seen them on my apricots in the past but never en mass. But there were thousands on that prickly pear. Made my skin crawl.

 

I'm enjoying these threads on plants/bushes/herbs etc... We almost used thorny bushes around our windows but didn't in the end because the kids might need to jump out for a fire or some other emergency. Kind of afraid the little ones wouldn't jump if faced with bunches of thorns...

 

Better a thorn in the tenders than the other.. Always have to weigh the risks and advantages.. Sharp rebar set in concret among the roses may be a bit to far right now, however having some ready to set out with tangle foot could come in handy..

 

One particularly nasty cactus we have here in the desert SW is called the jumping cholla. It grows in sections that are covered in extremely sharp spines about an inch long. Lightly brushing up against the plant breaks the sections off and they adhere to flesh readily, usually with about 20 or 30 of the spines. Locally we call them cholla balls because they resemble an oblong ball.
Removal of the cholla ball still leaves the spines sticking in the skin. Needlenose pliers are about the only way to remove them and they always draw blood.
In most instances, several of the "balls" are broken loose in one encounter and adhere immediately to some part of the body, (back of hand, front of the legs).
In a stiff wind, sometimes the sections will break off and land on the ground. These will root and start new plants.

 

One other use of Barberry, aside from security is that its roots contain a substance called berberine. While the leaves are edible raw in the spring, and rich in antioxidants like vitamin C and Malic Acid, the true gift of the genus Berberis is in its medicinal properties. Scrape the bark to reveal a greenish yellow flesh thats high in alkaloids. Not only berberine, but also many other important medicinal phytochemicals. This plant has been a traditional medicinal and modern research validates it's efficacy as a known antibacterial, anti fungal, anti-inflammatory, analgesic (reduces pain), and antipyretic (effective against fever). As a known antibacterial and, specifically, an anti spirochetal, I have used this plant (in conjunction with other wild and non-native common plant species) as part of a Lyme Disease protocol with 100% effectiveness in the remission of all symptoms related to deer tick borne Lyme and Lyme Disease like spirochetes.

 

Locust is the nastiest living thing I've encountered that doesn't wear a pantsuit and hang out in Washington DC... This stuff is basically iron hard living razor wire and I kill it every chance I get. We had one in our yard when I was a kid and the cats only tried to climb it once. Each one had to be rescued. As a barrier plant I couldn't think of anything better than a dwarf variety.

 

She Dresses Like Mao!!

 

Using barbed wire to train the growth would be a nice add on extra....villain's will need wire cutters instead of just a machete to cut away the obstacle....the foliage camouflages the wire nicely.

 

I'm a fan of stinging nettles, teens or robbers falling out of the window will leave a distinctive rash on their bum and hands

 

A great post it is indeed! Deserves a like. I really exited to learn about defensive planting. Thing is I've been planning to plant some trees that will work like a defensive fence and also improve my house outside wall beauty. So here provided each plant seems to me perfect give a try.

 

These are a lot more subtle than my man high Spanish Bayonet, and tangle of roses and thorny crab apple trees. I have been trying to grow hedge apple for years, but they have never gotten more than three feet tall, and that's taken almost eight years. I suspect I'm too far east.

I'll have to look into some of the other unfriendly options listed in this thread. I like thorny things.

 

A good friend was a major in SF 7th SFG. He and his wife were coming to western NC to go kayaking. I said if you want you can stay here with me and save the cost of a room and they did.
We were standing on the deck and he said you've chosen a fine defensive position. As the approach slopes are 50 to 60 degrees, I said yes the slopes are steep. He said, nah, it is all that poison oak.