Securing your garden poses a challenge for most people. After all, it’s an open space, so you can’t really lock it. Worse, if it’s overgrown and badly lit, it can create a space for burglars to hide while they case your home, or even wait to break in.
Keeping this area secure is something that is completely in your hands. All that is required are a few precautions.
Use Your Plants
Your plants can become one of your best defenses against burglars. Experts recommend high fencing to the back and sides of your garden featuring thorny plants. This makes it difficult for thieves to find anything to grab onto comfortably to climb over and enter your yard.
Your plants or hedges to the front, on the other hand, should not be tall or overly thick. This way, burglars can’t use them as a screen. This also makes it easier for you to see who is in your garden.
The same goes for trees if you have a mature lot. Trim tree branches regularly, especially if they provide access to upstairs windows in your home that may not be as well secured.
Light It Up
Light goes a long way to improving visibility. Burglars are less likely to enter well-lit areas. You can see what’s going on in your yard better if you suspect there might be an intruder. So can your neighbors.
Motion-sensing lights are a good addition if you’re concerned about having an outside light on all night.
Make some noise
Burglars depend on two things to do their jobs, darkness, and silence. They certainly don’t want the sound of gravel crunching under their feet as they try to sneak up your garden path.
The sound might give you enough warning to call the police if someone tries to enter your home.
Secure your storage
Don’t tempt burglars into your garden in the first place by leaving expensive gardening equipment, bicycles, or children’s toys outside.
Put these items in a shed and lock them up when you’re done using them. Their location and the lock provide an added deterrent for a thief trying to make a quick score.
Install a security system
Along with your security lights, you might want to consider installing a CCTV camera on your home’s exterior.
This gives you an alternate way to see your home’s exterior without going outside. Thieves also tend to avoid yards with camera systems in favor of those that don’t have visible security.
Lock Your Gates
If you have a garden gate that gives access to the side of your home, lock it. You might keep this open to give people who know you alternate access to your home, such as your children or neighbors. However, they might not be the only ones using it.
A good-grade security lock or even a keyless lock is a good option here.
Get a dog
Your dog is likely to see or sense an intruder long before you do. This is why it’s a good idea to get one if your living situation allows it.
A barking dog is one of the primary deterrents according to burglars themselves. Nobody wants to risk being injured in a tousle with a dog as well as risk possible arrest.
The noise is also likely to alert neighbors that something is going on across your yard.
Your garden doesn’t have to be an undefended space where all burglars can enter. Take these steps and put an end to any plans they may be making.
Want to know what types of locks are best for your garden gate? Talk to us. Call us at 1 305 984 9922 or visit us at https://www.quicklymiamilocksmith.com/about/.
