The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Gardens => Topic started by: Stereo on March 18, 2015, 05:19:28 pm
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Our neighbours do not like cats. Fair enough. We get on with them fine. They have put up a 6' wooden fence on the boundary where there used to be a box hedge (on their side). That's fine too. I'm happy with that. The problem is that our cats can easily scale it and get over. I want to stop them as far as possible so I'm looking at planting a thick hedge on our side to stop them getting near the fence. So I was wondering what sort of plants to look at. Needs to be thick, thorns are OK. Berries would be good for the wildlife but not poisonous to dogs / kids etc. Don't mind a variety and some colour would be nice. Oh and the fence runs north / south so for at least half the day the plants will be in shade and only get afternoon / evening sun.
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Sounds perfect for rosa rugosa, very spikey so not climbable by cats, pretty pink or white flowers, big red hips in autumn and winter, and nice bright leaves. You can prune them with a hedge trimmer so very easy to manage. Even where there isn't a fence, they are good at keeping burglars out.
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Thanks, will check it out.
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Sounds perfect for rosa rugosa, very spikey so not climbable by cats, pretty pink or white flowers, big red hips in autumn and winter, and nice bright leaves. You can prune them with a hedge trimmer so very easy to manage. Even where there isn't a fence, they are good at keeping burglars out.
a house across the valley from us has a large rosa rugosa hedge (about 6ft high) and it is gorgeous. Thinking of planting one as a bit of a windbreak here.
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After reading this, have done some googling and am I right in thinking that this would not be poisonous to goats, just incase one escaped and had a sneaky munch.
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We had it as a wind break at our old house, sheep and goats lv it and the ponies loved the hips for a treat. I put the ewes and their lambs in that paddock and the ewes used the thorny branches to 'Roo' their fleeces. All round great bush, got more planted at our new place :thumbsup:
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We're also about to plant hedges and this sounds perfect but we are on clay soil - will it work here?
Thanks very much
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Prickliest plant I know is Berberis. Very attractive and VERY prickly. Had a hedge of it where I used to live. No sucker goes through that stuff
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Works on clay soil :thumbsup:
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Rosa Rugosa is extremely tough and I think it grows just about anywhere, including where it's very windy. As a hedge is thickens up quite quickly, partly by suckering. However, if you just mow over the new growth if it spreads too far, it soon takes the hint.
Our hens absolutely love the hips, and can be seen jumping up to grab them. Our neighbours cattle keep the far side well trimmed and appear to thrive on it, in spite of the prickles. Ours is in an area where we only have two ancient toothless biddies (sheep), but they love to gum off the growing tips. The flowers are great for pressing.
As a general hedgerow, along open field edges, you are better to go for a mixed wildlife hedge such as hawthorn, with beech, holly, hazel, native wild rose, ash, oak, hornbeam, field maple and so on. My recommendation to stereo was purely for his situation as described. The RR hedge we have was originally planted to keep out prying eyes and overenthusiastic cattle, but it's fitted in far better than I had hoped. RR is often used in council plantings where local children congregate, as it's tough enough to keep on growing. It's also used to keep out unwanted visitors.
I think it's a great plant in the right situation.
The big nurseries sell them in bundles of 25 at very reasonable rates, and there's still just time to plant bare root plants, which are by far the cheapest option.
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Prickliest plant I know is Berberis. Very attractive and VERY prickly. Had a hedge of it where I used to live. No sucker goes through that stuff
When I was a special constable and doing house security checks Berberis was recommended as a great way to keep burglars out.
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We're also about to plant hedges and this sounds perfect but we are on clay soil - will it work here?
Thanks very much
we are all clay/gley around here and the hedge I mentioned is in a very windy location (although not quite as exposed as my place).
Berberis is toxic to horses so I wouldn't have it.