# Deterrent Plants



## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

I have some areas I would like to plant some deterrent plants. Preferably fast growing ones so that rules out cacti. We have some pampas grass but I'm not a big fan due to it's shedding.


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## Frank (Oct 23, 2008)

did you look at holly bushes there is another plant, tree that grows around here on the edges of our woods and fences that has 1-2 inch very sharp spikes all over it don't know what it is. but you can get all the ones you want.


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## JeepHammer (Oct 10, 2008)

Rose beds were grown in mid-evil times to detour people from approaching homes.
Roses from that period were large, thorn covered thickets, and others were climbing, and if you know what 'Old Fashioned' or 'Multi-Floral' roses are, you get an idea of what they looked like.

Dense hedges and rose 'Mazes' were made into 'Garden' features in the beginning of the industrial revolution, but in mid-evil times they were very carefully designed to confuse aggressors and assassins around area & regional castles and homes.

Anyway, there are several bushing and climbing plants that will cover your 'Castle Keep' with spines and toxins!
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Time for a side tangent about flowers...

In Mid-evil times it was believed that sweet smelling flowers could ward off disease... 
Plague, TB, Small Pox, ect.

("Ring around the *Rosie*, Pocket full of *Posy*".... Ever wonder what those lyrics were about? .... Warding off Bubonic Plague!)

When the troops came back from WW II they started building 'Housing Subdivisions' were before WW II many homes in cities actually touched each other...
Called 'Row Houses'.

When the subdivisions as we know them came along, many people saw WW II vets with 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder' (PTSD) out walking the neighborhoods after dark as a precaution from window 'Peeping' many people started planting roses under windows...

Remember, this was just after WW II, and there weren't central air-conditioning yet, so most people had their windows open day and night during the warm months...

These guys weren't 'Peeping', 
They were taking their demons, acquired during the war, for a walk since the demons wouldn't let them sleep...

But there was no such thing as a 'PTSD' diagnosis then, and church going housewives didn't understand the problem, and their imaginations ran away with them....

Today, things like Coy ponds, rock gardens, and decorative fencing can make the terrain uneven and hard to navigate,
And can also camouflage things like motion sensors, lights, alarms (silent and neighbor annoying), along with bushes that will detour any aggressor to a particular path of travel...

If you make a shrub 'Wall', the aggressor will simply pick a random place to cut through...

If you leave a gap in the bushes, an *UNTRAINED aggressor will take the path of least resistance and come through the gap...
At which time you can have anything from a dog stationed there (you want an Quiet dog for that post! ) or you can have something as benign as a motion sensor light aimed at that 'Gap'...
(Or, in the event of serious aggression, a trip wire!)

*A trained aggressor will NOT take the gap and will make his own ingress point so he can control the situation...
But what is the chance you will be stalked by a 'SeAL' Team?

Anyway, just a little strategy and history...


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## Rob55 (Oct 31, 2008)

Climbing roses grow very fast and are a great deterrent plant. Elec shock wire (used for livestock) is not very expensive and can work well along a fence too.


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## Tex (Oct 31, 2008)

If you live in an arrid region, the yucca plant has very sharp leaves.


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## highwayman (Nov 4, 2008)

Is mesquite a good option?


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## jecaper (Nov 7, 2008)

If you live in a semi-tropic area (Florida or gulf coast), try the "crown of thorns" nasty little bush.


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## wd4nyl (Nov 26, 2008)

I use a yucca plant. I knew it would be good when I skewered my hand planting the thing. Living punji sticks, they are. 

Also holly is good as it is a decorative shrub. 

And, last but not least, Hedges have been known to stop armies.

The good thing about using plants is that the police can't get you for setting booby traps. You were simply beautifying your yard.


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## AgentFlounder (Dec 12, 2008)

Pyracantha and Barberry come to mind... the former has loads of gorgeous red berries. The latter can have attractive leaf colors.


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## pmabma (Dec 4, 2008)

The Barberry hurts like crap, and it will leave a mark, just working around them in my yard can be painful, easy to grow and you can root pieces of them easy, It would be hard to get threw a row of these if you plant them close together,They grow pretty fast too.


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## pmabma (Dec 4, 2008)

The Barberry has thorns on them and some people use them for meds , did add that to other post.


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## EvilTOJ (Dec 4, 2008)

Hawthorne bushes are good for deterrent hedges. They grow fast, are hardy, and have very prominent, long, straight, sharp thorns, ranging from 1 to 5 inches in length.


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## AsmelEduardo (Jan 11, 2009)

*Pringamoza!*

I don't know how It's called in the States.... but here in Venezuela is PRINGAMOZA (Urera baccifera) It's a 3-5ft bush that it's itchy as a hell!  you touch it and wait a few seconds... it's the worst feeling that you will ever have! (I'm been there ). Normal clothing does not protect against the stinging effect. However, the pain is usually short-lived, lasting from a few mintes to a few hours. Although no permanent injury results, some people may experience rash or blisters; swelling, fever, and ulcers can occur in extreme cases. In Central and South America, Pringamoza has been planted in hedges and fences to make an almost impenetrable barrier. Although not generally sought after for food under normal conditions, Pringamoza is one of the first plants to fruit after hurricanes, and, as such, is an important factor in the survival of
frugiverous birds.
The pringamoza it's a tropical plant so requires plenity of sunlight and water, but probably don't survive a winter or cold at all....


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## Canadian (Dec 14, 2008)

Roses are great as long as you give them something to climb on. However, you've got to be careful because dense climbing plants become a haven for pests like hornets. Once they move in they are hard to get rid of without destroying part of you climbing plant.


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## Rancher (Dec 3, 2008)

Let's not forget blackberries. Can make an impenetrable barrier as well as providing a delicious crop.


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## ShaiserManelli (Jan 14, 2009)

Lately I have wondered if some kind of irritant like Pringamoza that was in my bed cause I have been waking up with hives unless I cover the mattress with something and then it itches alot...

I don't think detergent would cause that much itching if that's what is causing it?


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## Obsidian (May 2, 2009)

Rancher said:


> Let's not forget blackberries. Can make an impenetrable barrier as well as providing a delicious crop.


+1 on blackberries and roses. Blackberries grow like crazy too. Be careful not to let them take over. They can get large enough to act as a hide. Good source of food too: pie, jam...getting hungry. And rose hips have tons of vitamin C (but don't taste like, well, anything.)

Did you know blackberries and roses are related species? Take a close look sometime and you can see the resemblance.

My great uncle was a cook in WWI. He never knew if there would be enough kindling for the fires so he would cut blackberry vines to size, dry them, and wrap them with more vines into bundles just big enough to start a fire. Saved several of these for times of scarcity.

+1 on Hawthornes. Ouch.

-1 on poison oak. It may backfire on you and no intruder will feel a thing until they are long gone.


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## sgt.doug (Jun 1, 2009)

*what to do*

i have a slow down fence with climbing rose bushes on both sides, the roses have devoured the fence and its undetectable to the eye. the slow down fence has a point of entry gate. thirty feet inside this gate is a six foot privacy dence which is off set from the house another thirty feet. various cactus plants are planted next to this fence. the slow down area between these two fences is the area in which an intruder needs to make some decisions. the first gate has motion lights. which is first line of defense for me, because at that point my dog makes a decision( which normally is investigate) this will generally help me make my first decision. the outside gate which has climbing rose bush all over it has been set so that it will close by itself soooooo...no lock as i would rather the person make the decision to leave....but in a hast would find the lovely rose plant making itself known as the gate latch is fumbled for..i am still working on other areas of my property but i would have to say that vegitation strategically placed has huge advantages..................no green thumb here.....just some simple very common SENSE>>>


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## booter (Jan 23, 2010)

Take a look at a Pachypodium Lamerai/Madagascar Palm, this is one very wicked plant, with huge spikes all over their trunks, to move an immature plant for regrowth you have to wrap a piece of carpet around the trunk in order to handle the plant.


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## marlas1too (Feb 28, 2010)

to frank------osage is what you are talking about -in the fall you see these big green yellow ball on the ground well those are the seeds and they are fast growing and have nasty thorns all over them ---they are also called hourse apples----remember its better to have and not need than need and not have-


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