As we’ve discussed many times, home security is very important. It’s crucial to protect what you’ve earned… not to mention your most valuable possession: your family.
This usually means upgrading locks for your doors, making sure windows can’t open from the outside and establishing a variety of home protection elements on your property.
I don’t think I’ve ever recommended plants for protection, other than perhaps some hedges that might limit the number of openings leading up to your house.
But now I’m going to after learning about some serious plants that can inflict lots of damage to anyone trying to scale to get into your home.
Some of these things are downright dangerous, including the ones that look so beautiful and serene from a distance. In fact, it’s like growing barbed wire outside your house.
You definitely want to keep kids and animals away from them, but if a home invader wants to tangle with these plants, well, I’d like to witness that.
Among these ferocious plants, in case you want to check out some of them, are the following seven:
- Pyracantha. This one grows almost as wide as it does tall (10 feet) and features plenty of needle-sharp spikes. Don’t let the firethorn’s pretty (and mildly poisonous) red berries fool you:
- Nyctaginaceae. This one can get you two ways… through its thorny stems and its painful sap. The bougainvillea deceives you with a colorful flower and then inflicts pain:
- Rubus. This is like a rose on steroids. It grows very quickly and can reach five feet high. The blackberry’s thorns are more accurately described as spikes:
- Gleditsia tracanthos. You probably won’t live to see this honey locust plant reach its potential (60–90 feet tall), but you’ll definitely observe its lengthy and thick daggers (also known as thorns):
- Fabaceae. Curved — and very sharp — prickles adorn the branches of this acacia plant. If a bad guy’s clothes get snagged on them, he might have a tough time escaping:
- Solanum. There’s a reason this porcupine tomato’s nickname is “devil’s thorn.” Each leaf contains a bunch of sharp spines, and if someone ingests its toxic alkaloid, they can get sick or die:
- Mahonia. Ah, what pretty green leaves the Oregon grape plant has… ouch! Spines on the ends of these deceptively docile and waxy leaves can catch someone unawares and rip through leather:
Think about making one or more of these plants part of your home defense plan. A home invader is likely to call 911 before you do.
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