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I'm getting ready to fence off my perimeter and have been thinking about how much maintenance is involved in traditional fencing. Has anyone grown a living fence and successfully kept out feral pigs and other such critters?
If you've never heard of a living fence, read this;
http://forest.mtu.edu/pcforestry/resourc...living.htm
Maybe it will spark some ideas... I'm thinking Moringa oleifera may be the best choice.
Suggestions? Ideas?
William DeBoe
Boca Raton, FL
Honomu, HI sometime 2015
Moe'uhane Oihana mahi ai
Mahi 'ai 'Ulu
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We had a Euphorbia lactea (MY common name was @#$*% ....or spiny devil when I was not head pierced by the thing) that I chopped up, & a friend in HPP has used as a pig fence
The plant cuttings we took (bloody plant was over 24' tall & had multiple branches) have really taken off quite nicely... & filled in her whole front area (it does have a fence, but the pigs were getting through the uneven bottom pukas) has a southwestern feel, if you do not get close to it. The thorns on the lactea cross, so getting anywhere near is a good chance of getting stabbed.
info link:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=EULA8
Add: Moringa is a very nice plant, but not real strong (very easy to break off large limbs - if you want to see how easy - come over to our place & have at - winds over 50mph routinely knock off branches) & most likely very tempting to the piggies, although the roots might not be, the leaves & seed pods are excellent pig fodder....
Ti would be a hardier choice over Moringa (but not has healthy to harvest)
ADDED 2: one of our neighbors has used bouganvillea, doing a lattice work with approach grafting... very pretty & pig proof...
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I suspect that there is not much a pig can't go through. So put up a good heavy wire fence and then grow your hedge over that. Or better yet, put up the wire fence and add an electric fence to it instead of a hedge.
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If you do wire field fencing put one strand of barbed wire on the bottom.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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Will having hunting dogs around keep the pigs away? I think pigs are fairly smart and might stay away from dogs. Is this the case?
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Carey I think you are on the right path with Bougainvillea... That stuff gets pretty dense and is stickery (mild toxicity too!) enough to earn titles similar to your Floridian cactus. It would take some serious training but I'll have time to do it... I figure I'm gonna have to put up a wire fence first and then inside it I can begin training a multispecies living fence. if an apple tree can be trained into a fence -
http://erthturf.com/EspaliersAsFence.jpg and bougainvillea can be strong enough to tree it up like this -
http://www.jenyfermatthews.com/wp-conten...villea.jpg then I bet in ten years or so (about the time my wire fence begins to fall apart) I'll have a pig proof barrier. [
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William DeBoe
Palm Beach, FL
Honomu, HI sometime 2015
Moe'uhane Oihana mahi ai
Mahi 'ai 'Ulu
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How about a cactus hedge? Saw a lot of those in Chile, look like they'd keep pretty much anything out depending on the variety you use. Probably only work in the drier areas of Puna, of course...
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I think cactus might work if planted in straight cinder only. They actually grow bigger with rain water. They grow fairly well in Texas where there is plenty of rain. They keep deer out in Texas, but pigs are much more voracious, so I dont know for sure about pigs.
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I can't remember the name of it anymore, but some company bred a living fence species that had 3-6 inch thorns and reportedly could even stop a car. Was intended for protecting mansions etc because it can't be climbed or penetrated like a steel fence.
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There's a cactus hedge on 22nd in HPP, near Shower. It looks pretty solid although I don't know if it would withstand a pig. Do you think cacti would grow well in Mountain View, unknownjulie? I'd assumed they wouldn't but I haven't actually tried it.
Terracore - did it look like Acacia caven aka espino de Chile?
For something really creative, take a look at this:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/0...elephants/
