Nature offers better, cheap security
Indigenous thorn hedges beat high walls
AN ARRAY of thorny, noise-making and stinging botany is out there for people to grow in their gardens to help keep intruders at bay, according to plant experts.
The Daily Mail reported recently that in Britain, the Colchester Council and police joined forces with a nursery to put together a defensive planting scheme to curb burglaries in the East Anglia city.
The plants they suggested using to “create a barrier” include the Creeping Juniper which has a thorny stem and foliage, the Blue Spruce with rigid branches and spiky needles; and giant rhubarb which is known for its abrasive foliage.
While some South African security experts question the wisdom of blocking visibility with solid walls, an alternative is planting a hedge of amathungulu, also known as the Natal plum or the big numnum.
Nurseryman William Collingwood speaks highly of its criminal-deterrent qualities.
“Chase anyone through that and they will be left looking like Jackie Hangman food,” he said. The Jackie Hangman (common fiscal shrike) bird hangs its prey on wire fences for storage.
Botanist Elsa Pooley said amathungulu hedges were once very common to the South Coast. “They look pretty and produce nice fruit that makes tasty jam, but they have almost entirely disappeared,” she said.
Amathungulus ( Carissa macrocarpa) grow slowly at first but later pick up the pace, so it’s recommended they are bought when they are fairly advanced, said Pooley.
Another plant to consider, and one that would survive the Midlands black frosts, was the Kei apple ( Dovyalis caffra), she suggested.
Pooley said while exotics such as prickly pears and sisal were tempting to plant for security, people should refrain from doing so because they were alien invasive plants.
Another botanist, Geoff Nichols, also mindful of the security debate on whether walls were wise, said he preferred hedges – amatungulu and others – because they provided habitat for urban wildlife.
“But humans prefer walls, which are easier to maintain and give the illusion of security.”
Nichols also said hedges had to have the correct shape – narrow at the top and wider at the bottom.
“Wild hedges take their own shape, but space becomes an issue in suburbia.”
Nichols recommended that people planted hedges within a wire fence inside their properties, and at least six species of plant were planted in a hedgerow. “If one species dies off, there are at least five other species to take over. It makes for a multi-functional wildlife habitat for urban adapted wildlife to feed, breed, nest and rest.
“My hedges have at least 10 species of plants growing together to form the hedge.”
Some plants, such as the tall forest grass Setaria megaphylla, are more bark than (thorny) bite.
“I use it in passageways and under windows. No one can touch the plant without the leaves making a sushing sound,” said Nichols.
“Dogs and humans hear this and investigate. It’s a good early-warning system.”
Paul Stone, of the Westville Community Policing Forum and spokesman for Magnum Shield Security, said whatever plants people chose to grow should not compromise their security: “Especially trees along a fence. Burglars can use them to jump in and out of the property.”
Stone said intruders often found plants useful to hide under, or behind. “But, then, one with thorns can help by stopping people coming through. It’s a Catch-22 situation.”