The road is scheduled to be widened in front of a 20 acre parcel I'm
developing. I'd like to plant a natural thorny barrier that would be
nicer looking than a fence and could stop a car. Any ideas for shrubs
or small fast-growing trees that would make a good security hedgerow
in Central Florida? Preferably something without a lot of messy fruit,
too.

wrote in message
ups.com...
The road is scheduled to be widened in front of a 20 acre parcel I'm
developing. I'd like to plant a natural thorny barrier that would be
nicer looking than a fence and could stop a car. Any ideas for shrubs
or small fast-growing trees that would make a good security hedgerow
in Central Florida? Preferably something without a lot of messy fruit,
too.


I don't know about stopping a car, but barberry will put most people or
animals in a world of hurt, or maybe the emergency room. You'll need heavy
duty clothing and leather gloves to trim them once or twice a year.

Hi Skip,

I'm thinking a shrub rose would work and the suckering canes might possibly hold back a car if it wasn't going to fast. Look for one that reblooms for a long season of interest and that is tall or medium tall. The old fashioned ones are more carefree and disease and pest resistant. I'm thinking that your site is full sun. You will need to know your plant hardiness zone, which I suspect is 9. Here's a zip code zone finder.
http://www.garden.org/zipzone/

Here's some ideas.
Carefree Delight
http://www.naturehills.com/new/produ...efee+Del ight

Also think about China roses. They rebloom (remondant) and are carefree. Some that should fit your needs are Old Blush, Archduke Charles and Cramoisi Superieur.
http://www.roseinfo.com/rose_guide.html

Newt

MACLURA POMIFERA, aka Osage-orange, also called Hedge-apple and "bois
d'arc".

This shrub was the original 'barbed wire fence'. In old vernacular, a good
Osage Orange hedgerow was 'horse-high, bull-strong, and hog-tight'. Quite
literally a properly grown Osage barrier could stop fenced in livestock.

Yes, the females do produce those bizarre softball sized fruits, however
they're prized by various wildlife and humans have uses for them as well.


--
David J. Bockman, Fairfax, VA (USDA Hardiness Zone 7)
email:
http://beyondgardening.com/Albums

"Newt" wrote in message
...

Doug Kanter Wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...-
The road is scheduled to be widened in front of a 20 acre parcel I'm
developing. I'd like to plant a natural thorny barrier that would be
nicer looking than a fence and could stop a car. Any ideas for shrubs
or small fast-growing trees that would make a good security hedgerow
in Central Florida? Preferably something without a lot of messy fruit,
too.
-

I don't know about stopping a car, but barberry will put most people or
animals in a world of hurt, or maybe the emergency room. You'll need
heavy duty clothing and leather gloves to trim them once or twice a
year.



Hi Skip,

I'm thinking a shrub rose would work and the suckering canes might
possibly hold back a car if it wasn't going to fast. Look for one that
reblooms for a long season of interest and that is tall or medium tall.
The old fashioned ones are more carefree and disease and pest
resistant. I'm thinking that your site is full sun. You will need to
know your plant hardiness zone, which I suspect is 9. Here's a zip
code zone finder.
http://www.garden.org/zipzone/

Here's some ideas.
Carefree Delight
http://tinyurl.com/6n6ks

Also think about China roses. They rebloom (remondant) and are
carefree. Some that should fit your needs are Old Blush, Archduke
Charles and Cramoisi Superieur.
http://www.roseinfo.com/rose_guide.html

Newt


--
Newt

bougainvillea





wrote in message
ups.com...
The road is scheduled to be widened in front of a 20 acre parcel I'm
developing. I'd like to plant a natural thorny barrier that would be
nicer looking than a fence and could stop a car. Any ideas for shrubs
or small fast-growing trees that would make a good security hedgerow
in Central Florida? Preferably something without a lot of messy fruit,
too.

Cindy wrote:
bougainvillea

Talk about timing! Not a month after I posted that question about
car-stopping hedgerows, did a car come crashing through my hedges at my
northern CA home. The intoxicated driver was being chased by the police
when he decided to turn onto my front lawn.

http://www.robert.to/Police.jpg

In this photo, the car on the left is sitting in the middle of my lawn,
after going through some shrubs planted in the corner of the property.
He came to rest at a birch tree:


http://www.robert.to/CarTreeImpact.jpg

(Here he is after backing up a foot or so. You can see the plate got
bent when he hit the tree.)

About 18" of bark, 50% around the poor tree got dislodgled:

http://www.robert.to/TreeDamage.jpg
http://www.robert.to/TreeDamage2.jpg

Anyway, we're going to try to plant something with more car-stopping
power in the corner here (though it was probably a freak accident
because this is a quiet, residential street in a very safe community.
And maybe we'll help the bushes out with an iron post or concrete
barrier, hidden inside the plantings.

The arborist said my tree may not make it. It'll take a year or so to
know for sure...

In article .com,
wrote:

You should be cautious about putting a steel post in the middle of your
plantings. It is my understanding that you could be liable for injuries
resulting from a collision with the post. You should try to collect on
the damage to your vegetation and use the money to hire a landscape
gardener. .

Dick


Anyway, we're going to try to plant something with more car-stopping
power in the corner here (though it was probably a freak accident
because this is a quiet, residential street in a very safe community.
And maybe we'll help the bushes out with an iron post or concrete
barrier, hidden inside the plantings.

The arborist said my tree may not make it. It'll take a year or so to
know for sure...

In article ,
says...
It is my understanding that you could be liable for injuries
resulting from a collision with the post.


The inmates are running the asylum!

--
Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description