Vandalised hedge

[NikkiB]

I have a hedge that has been ruined by schoolchildren throwing themselves into it on the way to class. Now it's tumbledown and messy.

If I was to replace the hedge with holly or something similarly prickly, could I be sued if someone still jumps in it and emerges with thorns stuck in them?

Would I have to put up a notice warning potential vandals that my new hedge is prickly and potentially harmful?

[I Love Snow]

We had the same problem with school kids and drunks either jumping in the hedge or falling in the hedge. We put loads of holly through it and it worked for a while. We also phoned the school and after a couple of weeks it stopped. You can also log on to www.met.police.uk/crimeprevention/garden where they have loads of ideas.

[whiffey]

Grow holly, the prickliest possible, why on earth should you not ? Nobody has yet successfully prosecuted God for designing the stuff (although a suit about the tiny little bones in herrings, the finest tasting fish ever created, is in the offing)

[daffy654]

I was advised by the police to plant a prickly hedge for exactly the reason you are describing,their suggestion was to buy a shrub with inch long thorns on it,I can't remember what the shrub was called though.

[badlad]

Use this,
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/plants/pyracantha/1003 352/

[Therema]

Here's a list take your pick lol
PYRACANTHA Large evergreen shrubs suitable for wall training or hedge. White flowers. May-June followed by red, orange or yellow berries in Autumn. Thorny branches. Grows 2-4" tall.

HIPPOPHAE RHAMNOIDES Sea Buckthorn grows in any soil and is wind resistant with silver foliage and excellent thorns. This large shrub provides superb cover. Plant in groups of 3 to obtain berries.

BERBERIS OTTAWENSIS SUPERBA Use as a hedge or an individual shrub. Deciduous barbed plant with beautiful purple foliage. Yellow flowers in Spring. Reaches 1.5-1.8m tall, allow two plants per metre.

BERBERIS STENOPHYLLA Use as a hedge or shrub. Graceful evergreen with long arching prickly branches, masses of yellow flowers in Spring. Grows 1.8-2.5m tall, allow two plants per metre.

BERBERIS JULIANA Prickly evergreen shrub with shiny dark leaves. Yellow flowers in Spring. Grows 1.2-1.8m tall.

ULEX EUROPAEUS Common Gorse, viciously spiny. Yellow flowers April-May. Grows 1.2-1.8m tall. Plant in full sun.

MAHONIA BEALEI WINTER SUN Prickly evergreen shrubs with fragrant yellow flowers in Winter and Spring. Grows 1.2-1.8m tall. Suitable for shade.

CRATAEGUS MONOGYNA Common Hawthorn. Forms an impenetrable thorny hedge. Fast growing, wonderful sight in May and June with fragrant white flowers. Red haws in Autumn. Plant in staggered row 4 per metre. Prune to required height.

ILEX Holly. Evergreen shrubs for hedging or individual shrub. Green or variegated available. Plant in sun or shade. Females produce berries when males present.

CLIMBING & RAMBLING ROSES Useful to give added protection to walls and fences. Wide selection. Heights vary from 2.7m.

ROSA RUGOSA RUBRA-CRIMSON Fragrant old fashioned rose - densely prickly for hedges or individual shrubs. Grows up to 2m tall. Red, white or purple

[Whickerman]

Therema's list is great. If you take his/her advice, the Hawthorn bushes listed are indeed impregnable, and that's what I'd use. Holly takes a long time to grow and isn't nearly as effective.

[sandbach99]

The trouble with these plants is that they do need trimming/cutting and that can mean scratched hands and arms, otherwise an excellent idea