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plants for home defence

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My ideal home has, as well of lots of other cool stuff like an observatory and telescope. would be built to keep people out - I'm not paranoid about people coming to get me but I do like the idea of making it hard for them just in case they try.

so along the lines of climbing roses over the walls and fences what do you guys think would be some good natives to 'defend the home'

the following link is from england where I grew up.

http://www.cleveland.police.uk/crime_preve...rden/plants.htm

cheers

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Get a fence of pedro, traditionally it is said they scream if an intruder tries to gain access or steals from the property. :)

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Agave americana 'Glauca' under windows is a nice, lethal touch. Euphorbia tirucalli (Pencil Tree) won't stop entry, but will leave the intruder with blistered and scarred eyes and skin to give them something to remember you by :devil: People love shade trees, but I hear that intruders like to use them to their advantage. Solution: Plant a Chorisia speciosa. Good luck climbing this tree: Chorisia_speciosa2.jpg

All stuff for warmer drier climates.

Edited by FM.

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Natives, now if you lived in a slighter wetter climate I could recommend Bush lawyer

Rubus_nebulosus_02.jpg

Or the Lawyer Vine (Calamus muelleri)

c-muelleri.jpg

Or Fire vine (Trophis scandens) and Stinging vine (Tragia novae-hollandiae)

However living in Canberra, I would think Bougainvillea would be an ideal plant, apart from not being a native.

Bougainvillea_spectabilis.jpg

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I know they're not native but a hedge of peres would keep just about anyone away, plus you'd have a never ending supply of grafting stock.

Can't imagine they'd do to well during the winter though.

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post-1140-1194404800_thumb.jpg Hell Cactus! Just kidding. Couldnt resist. I once had a room where people sometimes broke in to. I filled it totally up with my spiniest cacti and since that i never ever had these problems again! bye Eg

post-1140-1194404800_thumb.jpg

post-1140-1194404800_thumb.jpg

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_Cholla

'First aid

When a piece of this cholla sticks to an unsuspecting person, a good method to remove the cactus is with a hair comb, which is standard equipment for many who hike in the cholla's biome. The pieces should not be handled, as the spines are barbed and can cause painful, very slow-healing wounds if the barbs become embedded in the skin. If the barbs pass through clothing before entering the skin, it may be possible to pull the clothing away from the skin, pulling most of the barbs out of the skin. This reduces the problem to the less-painful task of removing the piece from the clothing. After doing so, the article of clothing may be removed to expose any remaining barbs still embedded in the skin. Another technique for removing barbs from the skin is by applying hot water (by the use of a bathtub or shower) to the affected area. This will open up pores in the skin, making it easier for the needles to be removed or possibly even removing some needles entirely. If the cholla is encountered on a dedicated footpath, it may be good manners to place the removed piece off the footpath where it is less likely to be accidentally stuck to other people.

Cholla barbs should be carefully removed from shoes, as the barbs will continue to work their way into the shoe material.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A agave cactus has 'Agave: A few native and many non native agaves are grown in Tucson. Agaves can range in size from 6" tall and wide to 8' tall and wide. They generally grow as tall as they are wide. Fleshy sword-like fronds emanate from central rosette. Straight or curled spines may be along the edge of the fronds. A soft or sharp spine may be at the end of the frond. They can be grey, grey-green, green or variegated with white and yellow hues. The vast majority of agaves die after they have their one and only bloom, some with-in 10 years, most after many decades. '

Fleshy sword-like fronds, but like wouldn't run into one or fall on one if stoned or a kid.

Maybe something more effective, but less of problem or a worry problem?

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people here use opuntia sometimes and it works good. the nice spiny ones with good glochids! maybe another irritating plant for the wounds the opuntia cause.

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thinking about it, there are a couple of bushfoods which should be good for home defense and able to survive the hot & dry Canberra summers,

Desert Lime

and from another site

"Desert Lime trees exhibit many desert adaptation characteristics. They are the quickest citrus tree species in the world to set fruit after flowering. They protect themselves against grazing animals by sharp thorns, however, after growing above browse height of large kangaroos the trees grow no more thorns."

also here

"It is able to withstand long periods of severe drought and strong, hot winds. Under such conditions the tree will defoliate, leaving its thin, weeping green branches resembling a smoke tree. After germination, the tree develops a deep taproot and an enormous root system before making any vigorous aerial growth or full-sized leaves. It can endure high concentrations of salts in the soil and can grow up to 25 feet with access to water."

Eremocitrusglauca1.jpg

and you can see the thorns

eremo1.jpg

and I think Native Currant: Acrotriche depressa is prickly, don't know how it would work as a deterrent though.

And there are some acacias (Acacia verticillata) related to Acacia maidenii and A. phlebophylla that are very prickly

Acacia_verticillata.jpg

and who knows, it might be interesting!

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how badly do you want intruders to pay?

don't ask me for the name but i believe north QLD has the most excruciating tree in the world. injects silica like a jellyfish into your flesh, which is apparently impossible to completely remove, causing pain for life.

seems irresponsible to plant the thing though.

i don't have any good suggestions, but you could use thorny vines to make the thicket more of an impenetrable tangle.. they would help fill in the gaps and tie everything together.

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how badly do you want intruders to pay?

As soon as I read this, Thunder, I thought of Urtica ferox! The NZ Stinging Nettle Tree. I believe cattle (and maybe people) have even died from wandering into a stand of this :o Check it out:

post-3181-1194534996_thumb.jpg

and the damage...

L3177651-1.jpg

Again, how bad do you want them to pay?

post-3181-1194534996_thumb.jpg

post-3181-1194534996_thumb.jpg

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Raspberries and associated blackberry hybrids. Yummy for your tummy and ouch for intruders.

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Thanks guys, you have given me some good ideas! Some nasty ones too. :devil:

I don't want to actually hurt anyone I just want to make it hard for them to get in.

I think a few strategically placed plants along with my two dogs should be enough to keep me safe.

I now just need to find a way of stopping them reading my mind while I sleep. ;)

:lol:

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I now just need to find a way of stopping them reading my mind while I sleep. ;)

:lol:

How about making an aluminium foil night cap?

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Funny subject this one. :)

I've often thought about this type of barrier to unwelcome 'guests' who opt to go over the fence instead of using the gate.

A dog in the yard, trained not to make a sound until the 'guest' almost on top of it could make it more interesting.

Imagine an intruder running across someones yard in the dark with a dog nashing at their arse and then

hurtling through a lush stinger tree hedge only to be caught up in lawyer vine! :lol:

...or crashing through a euphorbia hedge.

Dendrocnide excelsa (Urticaceae) - the stinger tree from NSW and Qld . nasty stinging leaves.

This would be best pruned or lopped often (carefully!) to keep low bushy juvenile growth close to where you need it.

Calamus spp. (C.muelleri) Lawyer vine - Ive been caught up in it plenty of times.

Patience is needed to get out of it without drawing blood, even then it's usually unavoidable.

Grevillea mimosoides has very strongly irritant fruits.

There seems to be a caustic resin coating the fruits.

They were traditionaly use by people in northern Aust. to make ceremonial markings on their skin.

They would never rest under these trees.

I find that quite a few Grevilleas make me itch.

these are sub-tropical , so may not go so well in ACT.

Non-Natives-

Rhus succedanea - one of the sumacs

Rhus toxicodendron - Poison ivy

Yeah Cholla , nasty for sure.

there's some species of Opuntia growing wild around here just like it.

I'd discourage anyone from cultivating it.

pretty flowers/plant though.

Agave spp. there are some with leathal spines.

Yucca spp.

Euphorbia spp.-

Fouqueria splendens- Ocotillo- the mid ribs of the leaves become spines.

to cut the stems you almost need to use a hacksaw.

They can be used to make a good fence.

So..., plant de fence :)

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perhaps you could also put some dangerous spiders in some of your fence plants too?

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yeah i was starting to think along the lines of little beasties but i doubt they'd be very effective. anything nasty enough to stop a determined intruder is probably too dangerous to have hanging around.

yuccas! they don't look so bad, but you don't want those spikes breaking off in your flesh.

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Afican bee hives get excited from carbon dioxide, breath, how they target.

European bees have a different exciting mechanism using

http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=ge...a56187dd5552606

[(1-butanol, 1-octanol, and hexyl acetate) caused only the recruitment response. Other compounds (1-hexanol, butyl acetate, iso-pentyl acetate, and 2-nonanol) acted in more than one behavioral context. Octyl acetate was the most effective compound in allowing bees to locate targets, but did not recruit or release flight behavior. Stationary octyl acetate sources were located by flying bees, indicating that this pheromone component elicits a chemotactic response. However, localization of a target is due primarily to the motion of the target; the alarm pheromone components release searching behavior for a moving object and are relatively unimportant in target localization.]

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*bump*

Did anyone ever plant anything discussed in this thread?

What sort of success did you have?

I want to grow a big fuck-off hedge and I'm looking for stuff that'll do well in the sub-tropics.

I'm gonna plant a bunch of bougainvillea - but I have about 300m of boundary to cover, so there's plenty of room for other stuff too.

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