Protect your Home with Plants

Allow Mother Nature to protect your home with the use of shrubs and trees that can keep potential thieves out, and still allow you to have an attractive home. Many people complain that their homes feel like a prison, with barbed wire and electrical fences on high walls. Unfortunately crime is a reality that Cape Townians have had to come to terms with. Fortunately, there is an alternative to the expensive and sinister looking high walls and barbed wire, with a little help from nature.

Nature has had to be security conscious for millions of years in order to protect itself from predators. Fruit trees such as lemons and grape fruits have thorns to protect their fruit, others shrubs such as Num Num and Duranta have thorns to protect their juicy new shoots from hungry animals. Why not use these trees and shrubs to protect your home against our modern day predators? Climbing roses, for instance, have small thorns that will discourage any would be thief from climbing your wall, and put on a beautiful display of colour that will make your wall the envy of the neighbourhood.

A dense hedge of Barberry in front of your wall is far more attractive and cheaper to the barbed wire alternative, adds colour to your garden and doesn’t make your home look like a prison camp.

Acacia bushes have been used for centuries by herders to protect their live stock against lions and other predators. You can use the creeper version of this family to grow along your fence and create a formidable wall of thorns.

A cleverly planned garden with a few tricks from nature, can allow your home to be safe from thieves, and still look attractive, thereby adding value to your property.

Other alternatives are :

• Chorisia Trees
• Fire Thorn
• Kei Apple
• Sweet Thorn
• Yucca
• Cactus
• Christ Thorn
• Pachypodium
• Aloes