Will spikey plants damage non-spikey plants?

carzymaisey

I`m currently trying to grow spikey shrubs at the top of my garden to prevent unwanted intruders coming in. At the moment I have some Hawthorn and some Bereberis. I`d like to place the odd plant inbetween to give some eye catching colour, but all of the ones I like the look of are non-spikey. Will the spikes from the Hawthorn and Berberis damage the foliage of other plants?
Can anyone recommend some to me?
Thanks.

Monkeysee_monkeydo

Hello Carzymaisy,
It depends how windy your site is really. You don't see it often but if big leaves are repeatedly flapping against protruding spikes then they can easily tear and look a bit shredded or tatty.

Spikey
Mahonia japonica or 'Charity' - would be good, it has tough holly like leaves, is evergreen, but you'll still get red leaves in autumn/winter, yellow scented flowers in winter/early spring, blue berrys and also suitable as security hedging due to the spikey leaves.
Gorse - Ulex europaeus - the leaves are basically evergreen spikes so you can see how this would fit in. For a few weeks in spring gorse bushes are a flame of yellow.

Non Spikey
Tree heathers wouldn't suffer as the leaves are incredibly tiny. You can get a really nice gold coloured varieties.
Dwarf pines and conifers - thin leaves won't be affected by spikes

Hope this helps

Yorkshire_Lavender

carzymaisey wrote: »

I`m currently trying to grow spikey shrubs at the top of my garden to prevent unwanted intruders coming in. At the moment I have some Hawthorn and some Bereberis. I`d like to place the odd plant inbetween to give some eye catching colour, but all of the ones I like the look of are non-spikey. Will the spikes from the Hawthorn and Berberis damage the foliage of other plants?
Can anyone recommend some to me?
Thanks.

Shrub roses - ie Rugosa species. What about ornamental grasses? or lavender.

carzymaisey

Thanks. This is all very helpfull.