[John Mole]

On Evia, Greece, we have a little field accessible to passing sheep. We don't want the expense of a higher stone wall or the aesthetics of a chainlink fence. I put in a pomegranate fenced in by wire mesh but it looks like an Amnesty symbol. What shrubs or trees will sheep not eat apart from Oleander?

[John J]

John, are you considering a hedge to keep them out? If so how about a very thorny one such as Carissa macrocarpa, Pyrocantha, Berberis or, if you can find it, Poncirus trifoliata. For a more detailed list take a look at Heidi Gildemeister's book Gardening the Mediterranean Way; Practical Solutions for Summer-dry Climates, page 167. Good luck.

[Alisdair]

John J's idea is an appealing one, but, in the UK at least, thorny hedges don't keep sheep in or out, as the wretched sheep are only too happy to eat virtually anything that's green. Our sheep greedily munch through bramble, wild rose, holly, hawthorn and blackthorn (in roughly ascending order of prickliness and thorniness). The only way of making a hedge sheep-proof seems to be either to layer it (partly cutting through the woodier stems to lay them horizontal as a sort of strong integral inner fence, reinforced with short thin upright stakes usually of hazel), or to line it - preferably on both sides, far enough away to keep the precious green shoots out of reach of the sheep's surprisingly giraffe-like necks - with stock fencing. But I guess there must be plants other than oleander that they avoid. The dreaded prickly pear?