Help Keep Your Home Safe!
We all want to protect our families, and make our home a safe and secure place to live. Crime rates are always increasing – even in small towns and rural areas, and cutbacks in local, state, and federal government’s means fewer on-duty officers to patrol neighborhoods, and fewer resources to investigate crimes. Improved technology offers many affordable solutions in home alarm systems and security cameras, but there are still some clever, inexpensive tricks we can do in and around our homes to make them safer, and give us all some “peace of mind”.
Smart Landscaping
While everyone knows that good landscaping can improve the looks, and increase the value of your home; many don’t realize that it can also help to deter criminal activity.
Think about the location of trees around your home! Make sure that ornamental trees – especially evergreens, are not located too near windows and doors. Burglars can hide behind them as others pass by your property. Larger shade trees need to be pruned so that lower, canopy limbs don’t overhang roofs, providing another possible entry for unwanted intruders. Keep bushes trimmed below the window sill, and prune lower branches away from the ground, making it harder for a burglar to use them as cover. These tips can also improve the visibility of your home, allowing neighbors and police to view suspicious activities, and warn you of possible intrusion or theft.
You can also think about including thorny or spiky plants into your landscaping. Bushes such as American or English Holly planted under windows provide a prickly surprise when thieves try to hind behind them. Roses can also be pruned to a bush shape to deter criminals and add beauty. Don’t forget, when considering this type of deterrent that you may also need to use these windows as an escape route in case of fire.
There are also many varieties of thorny climbing shrubs that can be planted near a chain link fence to keep intruders from gaining entrance through your back yard. Blackberry vines, climbing roses, and bougainvillea are just some of the many types that will provide fruit or beauty, while offering a painful hindrance for those trying to jump over or climb your fence.
Lastly, when considering a trellis, make sure it doesn’t provide access into a second story window. Keep the trellis short and lightweight so no one can climb it. You might also want to consider a thorny or slippery plant for your trellis.
Just remember to take a good look at your overall landscaping design. Check out the street view of your home, and consider how a burglar might try to use your trees and shrubs as a way to hide or gain entry into your home.
**This is part of a 4-part article about home safety tips. Please watch for the continuation of this article in my next post!
Smart Landscaping
While everyone knows that good landscaping can improve the looks, and increase the value of your home; many don’t realize that it can also help to deter criminal activity.Think about the location of trees around your home! Make sure that ornamental trees – especially evergreens, are not located too near windows and doors. Burglars can hide behind them as others pass by your property. Larger shade trees need to be pruned so that lower, canopy limbs don’t overhang roofs, providing another possible entry for unwanted intruders. Keep bushes trimmed below the window sill, and prune lower branches away from the ground, making it harder for a burglar to use them as cover. These tips can also improve the visibility of your home, allowing neighbors and police to view suspicious activities, and warn you of possible intrusion or theft.
You can also think about including thorny or spiky plants into your landscaping. Bushes such as American or English Holly planted under windows provide a prickly surprise when thieves try to hind behind them. Roses can also be pruned to a bush shape to deter criminals and add beauty. Don’t forget, when considering this type of deterrent that you may also need to use these windows as an escape route in case of fire.
There are also many varieties of thorny climbing shrubs that can be planted near a chain link fence to keep intruders from gaining entrance through your back yard. Blackberry vines, climbing roses, and bougainvillea are just some of the many types that will provide fruit or beauty, while offering a painful hindrance for those trying to jump over or climb your fence.
Lastly, when considering a trellis, make sure it doesn’t provide access into a second story window. Keep the trellis short and lightweight so no one can climb it. You might also want to consider a thorny or slippery plant for your trellis.
Just remember to take a good look at your overall landscaping design. Check out the street view of your home, and consider how a burglar might try to use your trees and shrubs as a way to hide or gain entry into your home.
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