Better safe than sorry! – Three tips for securing your garden

November 14, 2014

Of all the items that can be stolen from an individual’s property, gardening tools and equipment are perhaps the easiest for prospective thieves to take. They generally offer a good level of value to thieves, with minimal risk involved in the act of theft, especially when compared to items of comparative worth that are contained within your house.

To counter this risk, we’ve collected some useful tips on how to best protect your garden, along with the tools and equipment stored within, from thieves.

Walls, fences and shrubs

For starters, a sturdy wall surrounding your garden is a deterrent in and of itself; if your front or back gardens currently lack this level of security, this should be your first step.

It is true that walls and fences, even of the generally recommended height of 2 meters, are easily scaled by committed thieves; but there are steps that can be taken to prevent this.

Trellising is oddly a superior choice to top off a wall, as, when compared to solid barriers, it is unable to support the weight of enterprising thieves. This means that they risk injury, or alerting residents and neighbours, if they attempt to climb the wall and trellis; making it a far less appealing option.

Similarly, bushes and shrubs are also excellent finishes to a wall, making them sufficiently difficult to climb that felons may be unwilling to make an attempt in the first place. Thorny, spiny or prickly plants are even more useful in these instances, as they also threaten to hurt potential infiltrators while still impeding their attempts to climb.

Lighting

It’s generally a good idea to consider your home from the perspective of potential thieves, when contemplating the security of both your gardening equipment, and your home in general.

The easier it is for a potential thief to remain undetected on your property, the greater the chance that they will attempt to access your property, and take the most easily accessible items they can find.

The simple installation of a motion activated spotlight outside of your home, facing access points to, or directly into your garden, may well be enough to deter potential thieves.

If it’s that much harder for them to remain undetected they are likely to look elsewhere for an easier mark.

Securely store tools and equipment that are kept outdoors

This a comparatively simple step, but one which is frequently neglected by home owners; if tools and equipment are routinely stored out in the open, it’s important for them to be well secured to your property.

Ladders need to be securely chained so they can’t be used to easily transport stolen property, or gain further access to your garden or home. Other tools or equipment, such as lawnmowers, should also be immobilised by being chained to a fence or wall, to make them that much harder to steal.

Wires and chains can be overcome relatively easily by prepared and well equipped thieves, though, so if you have a particularly large selection of valuable equipment and tools it’s definitely worth your while to look into a more comprehensive manner of secure garden tool storage.

At Trimetals, our area of expertise is metal garden tool storage; our range of metal garden sheds, garden storage and patio boxes make the secure storage of garden equipment and tools an absolute cinch; protecting your property from the attention of both inclement weather and thieves.

Featuring multiple locking points, minimal structural weak spots (such as windows), and tough construction, our range of metal garden tool storage is designed to offer maximum protection and functionality; keeping your selection of tools and equipment safe and organised.