Good thorny bush for a ditch or low area on my lot?

Question

I have vacant lot in Sandy Central Florida I want to clear and do some land grading on. My plan is elevate the center back by digging some slopped graded ditches. I'm looking for plants and trees that can do well in central florida sandy soil and don't mind being in a ditch that might take a lot of water every so often. Ideally i want something like a Yucca Aloifolia or Yucca Brightedge which I've seen in the area and when in clusters it's seems like pretty good perimeter security.

How will these perform and how can i get them to propagate? Anything else out there that might do well? Note the sandy soil is very porous and does not hold water for long.

Answer 1

Yucca as you say are quite formidable creatures with sharp edges, but for this reason they are quite hard to work with if you have many that need to be maintained as a defensive hedge. They are easy to propagate from pieces at the right time of year. As long as the roots drain really fast they should survive wet but flooding that hangs around would not be good.

Depending on the type of security you seek you might consider Nerium oleander which is also easy to propagate, and while it has no spines it can be maintained as a privacy hedgerow more easily. You might be able to break through it but not as easily see what is on the other side. It does not have spines, but the plant is notably poisonous and must be treated with respect. Note from the wikipedia page in the habitat section "It typically occurs around stream beds in river valleys, where it can alternatively tolerate long seasons of drought and inundation from winter rains." It also grows in very sandy areas, notably on beaches.