Forum home Talkback
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Pretty but tough plants to secure boundary

cdaniecdanie Posts: 12

Hello, I live in a terraced house with a driveway to the front.  The only thing separating my driveway from next doors is a flower border approx 7.5m long and 0.5m wide.  It is currently planted with box balls, echinacea, catmint, verbena, alliums & lavender.  The problem is that next door is rented out as a holiday let on a weekly basis and because their driveway is quite tight I have a succession of people trampling my plants with their car doors and feet as they alight and then the walk up my driveway before trampling back over my plants further up.  My box balls are ruined with lots of broken stems and verbena and alliums have also been picked by various people's children.  I find this infuriating and want to plant something that will be pretty (I like a mainly white colour scheme with blue and purple accents) but it quite tough and big enough not to be stepped over.  I am not allowed to plant a hedge.  Any advice very gratefully received.   

«1

Posts

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    I would speak to the landlord about this; he needs to widen his drive.

    Could you put in some little posts about 75cm high, with rope or chain connecting them?image

  • cdaniecdanie Posts: 12

    Unfortunately there is no room to widen the drive as we are mid terrace.  Next door's drive is plenty wide enough for 1 car but not as long as mine so people try to park 2 cards side by side which is what is causing the problem.  I appreciated your suggestion of a rope/chain and posts but was really hoping to have something green.  Thanks so much for your response.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    I sympathise totally Cdanie - some people are so thoughtless and rude. The usual 'deterrants' are things like Berberis which is nice and jaggy! The evergreen ones have yellow or orange flowers though so that may not suit your scheme. Perhaps you'll have to change it though to get a more suitable barrier. They won't step on berberis too often image

    You can trim that to shape, but you could alternate it with something more to your liking colourwise like Hebes.  They'll form a dense barrier and although they flower- they're not really the kind that people might be tempted to pick as the stems are short. Most of the flowers are shades of white through to purple and there are varieties with purpley foliage. All sorts of heights and types and many are readily available. Pretty low maintenance too. If there was enough room, you could maybe keep the alliums etc more on your side so that they can't reach those.

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • cdaniecdanie Posts: 12

    Thank you Fairygirl, I did wonder about something a bit prickly! I will definitely have a look at those.  I did also wonder about Rosa Rugosa Alba but wasn't sure if it was too big for the space available and if pruning it to fit might result in no flowers.  I love your suggestion of the alliums on my side only too.  Thanks again.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Berberisimage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Dave MorganDave Morgan Posts: 3,123

    Pyracantha is one of the best prickly hedges, it's great for security and keeping things or people away, plus you get the flowers and berries. It's easy to shape and can be cut back mercilessly only to come back twice as strong. People only bump into it once.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    Funny you should mention dog rose too - after I posted I took daughter's friend home and we pass a house which has that as a hedge. Only drawback is that it grows quickly so you'd have to trim it a lot. The owner of that house is always clipping it as he keeps it quite a tight height and width, but it loses the flowers as you say, so may not be so suitable. 

    Pyracantha's great Dave but the OP isn't allowed a hedge so it might be more tricky to keep as a stand alone shrub. I have some along my boundary fence for exactly  the reasons you mention! image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • cdaniecdanie Posts: 12

    I'm torn between the white flowers of the pyracantha and the lovely purple berries of the berberis! I will go and look at some real life examples. I'm thrilled to have so many responses.  Thank you all so much. image

  • cdaniecdanie Posts: 12

    This might sound a bit odd but does anyone know if there are any grasses which are a bit spiky and quite hardy? Might I incorporate some of those too?

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    I was thinking that you could keep your original plants and have the rope/chain and postsimage

Sign In or Register to comment.