Would someone be so kind to help out a beginner?

Hi Guys

I am quite new to gardening :cnfs:

We are after planting some kind of thorn bush, or stinging nettles,

Well anything really to put outside the back of our house to make it a little more protected.

Can someone recommend a bush that grows fast and widespread. It would need to be quite hardy as the soil contains alot of clay.

Thank you in advance:thmb:

 

Hawthorn is the time-honoured choice. Backthorn is nastier to intruders, but it spreads by underground runners, so you'd end up with it appearing all over your garden.

 

What do you think of Holly bushes?

 

"What do you think of Holly bushes?"

Might be a bit slow growing?

"We are after planting some kind of thorn bush, or stinging nettles,"

stinging nettles will die down in the winter ...

I would favour Berberis, which is nice and prickly :thumb: and evergreen. I reckon the bog standard Berberis darwinii will do

 

Thanks for the replies already!

Yes i do like holly bush but there are so many different ones.

I know it probably is a bit late but the reason we wanted something is because in the winter the kids keep sledging into out fence and putting thier feet through it :( so i wanted to put them off :(

 

Well Loops, the fun part of gardening is to read up on all the different ones and see which one you like most, and then that makes it uniquely yours. Old saying "Haste makes waste".

 

If it is to deter kids, don't go for anything too nasty. Not because I'm a beardy, but because if a bush gets a formidable reputation, kids will throw other kids into it for amusement.

When I was at school, we had a little garden in the yard, surrounded by a Hawthorn hedge, which was simply known as 'the bush'. It was an initiation ritual that first year seniors would be thrown into this bush. If they cried or told, then they didn't end up in the coveted elite squad. If they took it in fun then they did. If you were very lucky (as I was), you'd have older friends and relatives that would forewarn you of the ritual, so that if you saw a gang of older kids heading towards you looking a bit suspicious, you would know to get yourself as far away from 'the bush' as possible in the shortest amount of time possible.

That poor bush had so many gaps it from the constant barrage of first years being thrown into it.

 

How about Pyracantha,is very thorny and also has the bonus of red berries in autumn/winter

 

Can't believe your suggesting plants that can hurt kids Has to be a wind up. Stinging Nettles.. PUH..

 

Is there another way you could deter kids? If it is their feet going through, I don't think any plant will really deter them - if it was to stop crims climbing the back to break into your house - I'd say get the thorniest prickliest things you could get........but.......maybe there's another way to deter them without them getting hurt? Maybe I'm wrong - but I'm thinking that the kids are young and playing, not out to cause damage etc.?

 

Many people seem to have forgotten that. Apparently some city centres have really high pitched audio devices that only kids can hear that is supposed to drive them away as though they are vermin.

Back on topic though, its not nice when kids keep busting up your garden, even if they didn't mean it. Something like a Hawthorn bush would be a good deterrent without actually hurting them. I can honestly say I've never been really hurt on Hawthorn in my life, but the fear of getting got by it makes me extra careful when handling it. The fear of getting hawthorned is, for me at least, far worse than the actual event.

 

If you want to put a hedge at the bottom of the garden then the kids that come through the fence will also damage your hedging. What about putting some chain link fencing in front of your other fencing - it'll absorb the impact of the kids and will allow your hedge time to grow.

 

Hi Loops welcome to the forum
Just wondering what is there at the moment? Do you mean the back of your garden is open to a road or lane?
Stinging nettles would not look very attractive - could you not erect a small fence if you do not want children playing nearby?

 

hehe thanks Clueless - I know all about kids unintentionally damaging gardens....I have five kids....and it's a chore even with them in their own garden - my little blueberry bushes - one of them has been hit with so many soccer balls it's not funny :( Has to be even more frustrating when it's not your own kids! I have now moved my blueberry bushes out of the way of the soccer balls!

 

I only have one kid, and he'd not quite old enough to bust stuff yet (though he does practice for several hours every day ). The kids a couple of doors away regularly send their ball into my garden. They are good kids but unfortunately I made a mistake once when I was very busy and a kid came and knocked at the door to ask if he could have his ball back, and I just said yeah, no problem, just go and get it yourself. Now whenever the ball comes over they routinely come in without asking and walk right into the flower beds to find their ball. I could tell them off but if I do I'll be the neighbourhood grumpy man, and that's not a label you want, as then you become a target for knocky-hido and other such taunts