"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message news:b6rr59$2h7

Well, in addition to what YOU are doing, consider who you are trying
to stop or deter. Mildly spiny or twiggy plants like Cotoneaster,
Mahonia or Berberis darwinii will deter only casual invaders, and
holly isn't much better. If you want to keep out fairly determined
people or animals, you need pyracantha, Berberis vulgaris and so on.
All of the latter can take an eye out (obviously).

At the weekend we got 2 very spiky Berberis and a bramble. I take your
point about the pyracantha and will add that asap

Thanks again Nick

O