ABOUT AGROSCAPES

• The plant material you choose for a landscape can influence safety without being obvious. How they are kept is equally important.

• Overgrown shrubs that block windows and doors can obscure a burglar’s activities from neighbors or passing patrol cars.

• Homeowners can eliminate hiding places by planting foundation shrubs 18 to 24 inches from any window or door. They also should keep hedges trimmed 6 inches below windowsills or select shrub varieties that mature below sill level.

• Keep tall shrubs away from walkways so that attackers do not have a place to hide.

• You can make it difficult to get to the window by using prickly plants such as barberries, yuccas, roses and blue hollies near windows to prevent burglars from entering.

• Remember, though, that the thorns will make window washing and painting as unpleasant for you as they do for a burglar breaking in.

• Using thorny plants such as rugosa roses as perimeter plantings to crate something like a barbed-wire fence against prowlers trying to enter the property.

• Use thorny climbers on privacy fences to dissuade intruders from coming over the top

• Keep shrubs properly pruned. Scraggly shrubs say somebody doesn’t live there or they are away on vacation.

• Keep branches at least 7 feet from the ground, especially on trees growing near the house. This makes them less likely to be used to gain access to upstairs windows.

• Make sure someone trims shrubs, mows lawns and picks up litter to give the house a lived-in look while you are away on vacation. Make sure someone waters container plants as well.

Landscape lighting is a great deterrent.

• Homeowners might not initially consider lighting a landscaping tool, but it can serve the dual purpose of highlighting walkways and plants attractively while eliminating places for burglars to hide.

• The more lights you have, the harder it is for someone to break in.

• Put a light by each exterior door. Ideally, globes should be vandal-resistant and equipped with a photocell or timer to automatically come on at dusk and off at dawn.

• Place lights on the eaves and use in-ground, low-voltage landscape fixtures to wash walls with light to silhouette prowlers. Low-voltage lights can brighten dim areas in the back yard and provide safe travel from driveway to doors.

• Use spotlights and motion detectors. The motion detector has a startle factor giving the appearance that someone inside might have flipped a switch.

• Take care when placing spotlights. By illuminating one object, you might create intense shadows that make good hiding places.

• Illuminating parking areas so people exiting cars cannot be surprised by anyone hiding in the shadows.

• Light pathways and stairways so people can make a quick, safe journey from car to house.

• Use moon lighting. Hang electrical fixtures in trees and aim them down at the yard, parking area and other spots. The light is diffused somewhat by branches and leaves, creating a soft, even light, similar to that of the full moon but brighter.

Fencing, gates and arbors

• Wrought iron, picket or chain-link fences 3-4 ft high identify boundaries. Taller fences, most limited to 6 feet or less offer a bigger deterrent. Some crime-prevention experts criticize privacy fences, which limit the view onto the property, because seeing in is difficult, but they might deter crime for the same reason. If someone cannot see how to escape they may not want to go into the space.

• Put locks and alarms on privacy fence gates and use them.

Don’t leave temptations out and don’t flaunt them.

• Power and hand tools used in the home and garden often attract thieves, but precautions can be taken to protect the expensive investments.

• Keep garage doors down when working outside. Criminals can quickly grab tools and leave before being noticed. Criminals also see what types of goods you have and possible spot tools that would help them during a break-in.

• Locate tool sheds so the doors face the house for easier monitoring. Keep them locked.

• Stack firewood away from the house, not against a wall where it can give burglars access to windows on the first or second floor.

• Store all tools, especially ladders, indoors and out of sight. Ladders left out or against the house are an invitation to a burglar.

• When burglars choose a home, they drive down the street and note who puts things away and who doesn’t.

Get to know your neighbors.

• Proper planting, lighting and locking can make a house less appealing to burglars, but the best alarms and prevention techniques can’t stop determined criminals.

• People keeping an eye out for each other are the best defense.

• One way of getting acquainted with the neighbors is to work in the front yard. Besides chatting with passers-by and improving appearances, this makes a statement that someone cares about this territory.