perimeter security - now and then

[Pauls]

I am thinking about stepping up my perimeter security so I thought it might be a good discussion topic.
I am looking at cameras to add a layer and maybe some black-berry berms to assist in funnelling unwanted guests into a watched area before they can see the homestead.
My problem is that in this area blackberries don't get enough water to grow like they do on the coast. What are my options for the kind of massive growth and thorny protection that blackberries offer in moister climates?

[TJC44]

The house that I just moved to has several of what I believe are Washington Hawthorne trees. These are broadleaf, flowering trees, currently about 15 ft tall. And they are thorny! I have already been scratched by some of them. They spread through the root system.
They will give you the protection you want, and the flowers in May or June will appease the better half.

TJC

[Pauls]

I don't think a tree is low enough to the ground for what I have in mind. Blackberries grow in a jumbled mat that is nearly 15 feet tall and the lower you get the more there is to keep you from moving. It is one of the best natural barricades there is. I can't plant thistles or stinging nettles because the state will tell me to remove those noxious weeds or they will charge me to do it. I may have to irrigate to get the blackberries growing and then let them take over.

I can harvest the fruit, which is a big plus, and they don't seem to bother the wildlife but they are murder on people - even wearing welders gloves those things will stab you. It seems to me there is an African or middle eastern shrub that has big thorns too... Acacia? I'll have to look it up.

[Inor]

Maybe look at Russian Olive bushes, also called assassin trees? Add a few good rose bushes in between for additional color and to add some density. Once they bush out, anyone trying to run through it is in for a bad day.

[Pauls]

I am going to have to do a lot of research here. The Russian olive is invasive and hard to control. It takes over and kills cottonwood which is native to this area - I think that means the Russian olive is out - at least for now.

The Acacia bushes (not the trees) are also invasive and the seeds are spread by birds. They tend to take over or displace the natural flora too. We don't have the animals that eat these bushes to keep them under control - although goats might be helpful in that area - more research.

[Arklatex]

Here is a few more options.

http://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/living-fences-11-boundary-setting-solutions-47520/bluebell-flowers#.VXhI8IEo7qC

I did it with holly at my old house. Under the windows and along one border of the property. Took about 5 years to get it looking really good. And an effective barrier.

[Pauls]

Holly is good, but I want something denser and more thorns. Something I can use as a boundary with exits only into areas that can be good fire zones from above and at a distance. Black berries are ideal but there must be a plant that is similar that grows well in an arid environment.

[MrsInor]

Prickly pear.

[Dwight55]

Think two words: multiflora rose, . . . it will take a while to get there, . . . but once the hedge is made of multiflora, . . . there won't be anyone in their right mind trying to get through it with anything short of a flame thrower, . . . and that will take time.

A friend of mine planted some in his old home place back in Ky, . . . went back about 15 years later, . . . the whole pasture field was absolutely impassable, . . . rabbits, coons, possums could come and go, . . . but that was about it.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Sarge7402]

Razor Wire

[Pauls]

Razor wire is out. It looks too much like somebody is trying to protect something. Plants can do the same job and look like the area is just neglected.

[Pauls]

Think two words: multiflora rose, . . . it will take a while to get there, . . . but once the hedge is made of multiflora, . . . there won't be anyone in their right mind trying to get through it with anything short of a flame thrower, . . . and that will take time.

A friend of mine planted some in his old home place back in Ky, . . . went back about 15 years later, . . . the whole pasture field was absolutely impassable, . . . rabbits, coons, possums could come and go, . . . but that was about it.

May God bless,
Dwight

Dwight,
I need to stay away from plants that are already listed on "the invasive species" lists. So far blackberry and holly seem to be the best...

[Pauls]

Prickly pear.

I don't think Prickly Pear will grow here and I know it isn't close to a native plant.
How tall and how dense will they grow??? - see, I like the idea! and they are edible!

[James m]

I would go with a fence and some dogs behind the fence. Territorial? You see you didn't say what climate you're in, so that might help. We have a giant flowering weed here. Its about ten feet tall dense and has those seeds that stick to every fabric. Also little purple flowers. Climate?

[Pauls]

We are at 1000 feet, just to the windward side of the foot hills to a mountain range and in the rain shadow of another mountain range. Summer temps go from 85 to over 100F and winter temps near zero. Maybe slightly more than 10 inches of rain a year but lots of water from lakes, rivers and streams. Humidity hangs near 20 to 30 % in the summer and climbs to about an average of 60% during fall, winter and early spring. Great place to grow wheat and corn!

[James m]

Cactus.

[Inor]

I don't think Prickly Pear will grow here and I know it isn't close to a native plant.
How tall and how dense will they grow??? - see, I like the idea! and they are edible!

I have seen them growing wild along I-90 just east of Snoqualmie once you get below elevation. You might want to check on it.

[Dwight55]

Dwight,
I need to stay away from plants that are already listed on "the invasive species" lists. So far blackberry and holly seem to be the best...

Blackberry will definitely do it, . . . but you can also use a regular climbing rose plant.

To do that, . . . when you plant it, . . . make sure the bulb is at least 10 or 12 inches down in the ground. As it grows, . . . with nothing to climb onto, . . . it will shoot out vines, . . . you can then pull them kinda where you want them, . . . and make a really beautiful rose fence. Just pull them around and tie them down, . . . kinda interlacing them, . . . multiflora rose doesn't have a thing on that fence.

We had a couple of them in the yard when I was a kid, . . . even John Wayne couldn't have gotten me out of that "briar patch".

It is going to be a part of my "next year" projects, . . . kinda late this year, . . . but they will be under every window on the property where someone could get in, . . . except my bedroom window, . . . the one window for sure they don't want to mess with.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Montana Rancher]

Ok, here is the high tech method

I would assume any "natural" barrier you could put up that scratches and irritates people may not actually stop them from coming closer so here is my solution

https://www.dakotaalert.com/

You can plant up to 4 motion sensors in key places using radio signals to know a perimeter has been breached. You can add multiples of 4 sensors but you need more base stations and more receivers.

The point is, if someone is trying to agress your position, there are a few ways that will work the best, that is where you put the sensors.

Cover the spots you would sneak up to your property with these sensors and you have a good chance. Cover the spots an idiot would agress and plant berries.

Just my Opinion

[James m]

You could also go with solar motion sensor lights every so often if you're primarily worried about night visitors. Assuming you're watching for the lights or those dogs are.

[Pauls]

No lights, or anything that screams "civilization".
Maybe some hidden cameras with buried wired connections - definitely no WiFi - it is too easy to recognise. anyone with a phone can "see" a WiFi connection.
Prickly Pear don't grow high enough. The climbing roses mixed with blackberries sound excellent.