5 Essential Home and Garden Security Tips

We love and cherish our homes whether it’s a small one-bedroom flat as our first proper home after moving out, a cottage, small semi-detached property or luxury mansion in the country and we all want them to look their best and impress any family and friends who come to visit.

The problem that we all have, especially when we have our own gardens, is keeping our property secure. We can spend hundreds, even thousands upgrading our homes and gardens into something we truly love, places we want to spend time in and show off whenever we can; but this only encourages thieves and vandals to take an interest and see what they can lay their hands on. This is one of the biggest problems faced by homeowners, right up there with mortgage payments and essential maintenance and making our gardens secure without ruining the aesthetics by turning it into more of a prison than a home is very difficult.

There are some things that you can do relatively easily and also inexpensively that will help you to deter thieves and keep your property secure. Sure, some measures will cost a bit of money but it’s down to you, your piece of mind and your budget to asses how heavy-handed you want to get with your security. Here are five top security tips to get you started:

Plant thorny bushes around windows and outbuildings

By planting bushes with thorns – such as roses – beneath ground floor windows and around your sheds and storage buildings you can deter thieves from getting close enough to have a look inside. If they’re aware of what is in there then they can always come back another time fully equipped to break-in and get away with your possessions.

Out of sight, out of mind

We instantly decide to put our sheds in areas of the garden that we don’t use that often or that doesn’t get much sunlight or water meaning that we can’t use the area for plants. However, if this location is away from any windows or the kind of area where you would infrequently look or go to, it becomes a prime target for thieves especially in the winter when you’re less likely to go outside and the nights are longer and darker. For that reason you should try to position your shed or storage building within site of at least one window.

Buy storage with locks fitted

To save a bit of cash, buy your building with some form of security system already fitted to avoid paying twice. A lot of sheds from gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk come with key locks and clasps or allow owners to fit their own padlocks – both of which will act as trong deterrents to thieves.

Security systems and lighting

The one thing thieves hate most is being disturbed and any form of security lighting will do just the trick. If you install a sensor light around your shed, log cabin or bike store – whatever you have in your garden – you or your neighbours will be alerted to any movement and this could prevent thieves from breaking in. Similarly, fitting an alarm system is highly beneficial (yet expensive), particularly in the winter when you’re outside less and may not notice the signs of a break-in until it’s far too late. Alarms will alert homeowners and neighbours to the presence of thieves, stopping them from getting away with your possessions.

Put things away

Finally, if you’re going to go to the effort of installing specialist equipment or to the lengths needed to deter thieves, don’t make their lives easy. Put anything that can be easily stolen, such as bikes or barbecues, away securely and then they have even less chance of stealing your valued possessions. By leaving nothing on display inside the shed either, they’re unable to spot anything of value and will either go somewhere else or home empty handed.

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