Burglary and Your Landscaping

Landscaping increases the attractiveness of a home. However, you can combine home safety with landscaping to not only increase the curb appeal of a home but to make a home easy to see and hard to break into.

Here are some landscaping tips for duel curb appeal and thwarting burglars:

(1) Prune bushes away from first floor windows and doors and cut tree limbs away from second story windows. This eliminates entry points and hiding places for burglars.

(2) Thin out bushes to expose branch structure. This eliminates hiding spots for burglars.

(3) Plant ornamental thorny bushes below windows.

(4) Install ornamental gravel paths near bedroom windows to alert you to a prowler.

(5) Consider a fence, with ornamental thorny bushes planted at the base and/or thorny vines that climb.