Garden Advice

Defensive Planting Campaign - Summer 2010

• The ever-increasing popularity and sophistication of gardening has not gone unnoticed by the criminal. Garden crime is a reality.

• According to police statistics, the most likely items to be stolen are mowers, strimmers, chain saws, hedge trimmers, garden furniture and plants.

• Nature itself provides the best solution to garden crime. With careful thought and planning you can reduce the risk of becoming a victim of garden crime, whilst at the same time creating an attractive garden.

• Take your time to read this and take note of the carefully selected plants. For instance you can create an impenetrable hedge, which looks far more attractive than security fencing but is just as effective. Planting prickly shrubs around vulnerable windows can also serve as a deterrent to the burglar.

• By careful planning you can produce a beautiful garden and reduce the risk of being the next victim of garden crime.

The following garden centres and nurseries have kindly agreed to participate in Gloucestershire Constabulary's 2010 Defensive Gardening campaign. This campaign has been kindly supported by Gloucestershire Crimestoppers and Secured by Design. From most of the sites listed you should be able to buy appropriate plants, shed alarms, dawn to dusk lighting, gravel and other products that together may help deter burglars from attempting to steal from your home or garden:

Cheltenham
Dundry Nurseries, Bamfurlong Lane, Bamfurlong, GL51 6SL
Valley Roundabout Nurseries, Badgeworth Road, Badgeworth, GL51 6SJ
Badgeworth Nurseries, Badgeworth Road, Badgeworth, GL51 4UH
Wyevale (Brockworth), Shurdington Road, Brockworth, GL3 4PU
Evergreen Nurseries, Cheltenham Road E, Churchdown, GL3 2JB
Greenway Nurseries, Shurdington Road, Shurdington, GL51 4TT
Shurdington Nurseries, Whitelands Lane, Shurdington, GL51 4TX
The Dawn Nurseries, Main Road, Shurdington, GL51 4UD
Hillview Nurseries, Main Road, Shurdington, GL51 4XF
The Bedding Plant Centre, Tewkesbury Road, Uckington, GL51 9SL
B&Q, Hatherley Lane, Up Hatherley, GL51 6SY
Blooms of Bressingham, Evesham Road, Prestbury, GL50 4SJ

Forest of Dean
River View Nursery, Newnham Road, Blakeney, GL15 4AE
Fairview, Chapel Lane, Churcham, GL2 8AR
The Country Garden Centre, Ross Road, Huntley, GL19 3EY
Barbers Bridge Nurseries, Tibberton Corner, Barbers Bridge, Rudford, GL2 8DX
Three Shires Garden Centre , Ledbury Road, Newent, GL18 1DL
Roses Garden Centre, Ledbury Road, Newent, GL18 1DL
Newent Plant Centre, Ledbury Road, Newent, GL18 1DL
Staunton Garden Centre, Ledbury Road, Staunton, GL19 3QA
Chris Pattison Nursery, Brookend, Pendock, GL19 3PL
Pygmy Pinetum Nurseries, Cannop Crossroads, Cannop, GL16 7EQ
Coinros Nursery, Clements End, Coleford, GL16 8LN
Coleford Garden Centre, Lambsquay Road, Milkwall, GL16 8PF

Gloucester
Focus, Eastern Avenue, Gloucester, GL4 3BY
Homebase, Eastbrook Road, Gloucester, GL4 3DB

Cotswolds
Batsford Garden Centre, Batsford Arboretum, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 9QB
Dobbies, Cirencester Road, Cirencester, GL7 6EU
Fosseway Garden Centre, Stow Road, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 0DS
Lechlade Garden Centre, Warrens Cross, Lechlade, GL7 3DP
Close Nursery, Shipton Moyne Road, Tetbury, GL8 8PJ
The Garden & Plant Co, Hatheropl Lechlade, GL7 3NA
The Plant Centre, Westonbirt Arboretum, Westonbirt      , GL8 8QS

Stroud and Stonehouse
Sunnyside Garden Centre, Gossington Bridge, Bristol Road, GL11 5JA
Blooms, Bath Road, Haresfield, GL10 3DP
Highfield Garden World, Bristol Road, Whitminster, GL2 7PB
Nailsworth (Wyevale) Garden, Avening Rd, Nailsworth, GL6 0BS
Spinneywell Nurseries, Spinneywell Farm, Oakridge, GL6 7PH

Top Ten Tips

• • Sheds
    Sheds and outbuildings usually contain valuable items that might either be stolen or used as a tool to gain entry to the house. Check how vulnerable your shed is and make it more secure. Metal grills over the windows, reinforced hinges and locks are a worthwhile investment. Consider securing valuable items inside using security cables or chains with robust padlocks. Thieves do not like to hang about - the more obstacles you put in the way, the less likely they will be to bother. How vulnerable is your shed to thieves? Download our poster here for shed security tips.
  • Garden Equipment
    Equipment marked indelibly and boldly will be less of a target for a thief. It will identify it to the owner and the thief will have to spend time trying to remove the marking. Don't make the mistake that many gardeners make, leaving equipment out whilst popping in the house for a cup of tea, only to return to find your mower gone, and a half cut lawn! You may only be gone for a minute, but your mower will have gone forever.
  • Lighting
    Good lighting around the property will enhance your garden, extend its use into the evening, and be a major deterrent to the thief. The best type to install is low-level lighting on a dusk to dawn sensor, which will give good illumination, is cheap to run and is on all night. Security lighting operated on movement detectors can increase the fear of crime. This comes on and off during high winds, when trees sway or when animals walk past. It can also be annoying to your neighbours.
  • Plants
    Plants and trees can be very attractive to the thief, and difficult to secure. If you are using plant pots, buy the heaviest you can. Pots can be secured to the ground using a variety of methods from strong glues to bolts through the patio. Expensive plants can be secured in the ground using wire and pegs around the root ball. These are hidden from view when planting is completed, but make the plant very difficult to remove. Expensive plants should be planted where they can be seen from the house or by neighbours.
  • Gravel
    Thieves don't like to be heard. Crunchy gravel on the approach to the house, which gives away their presence, is ideal.
  • Water
    A water feature not only looks great in the garden but a pond can also form a barrier to prevent a thief from getting to a vulnerable shed or house window.
  • Front Garden
    The general rule for the front of the house is to keep boundary fences and hedges low to allow as much natural surveillance as possible from neighbours and passing pedestrians and traffic. Keep shrubs and trees well pruned to avoid any hiding places.
  • Rear Garden
    The rear garden should have a secure boundary and gates, which should be of sufficient height to make scaling them difficult. A thief hates to be cornered and will always be looking for escape routes. The traditional country hedge provides an attractive and impenetrable boundary. Prickly shrubs planted along an existing fence are effective and attractive but may take a long time to grow and thicken up.
  • Garden Furniture
    Patio furniture, hammocks and parasols are stolen from gardens every year. Take time to mark the items so they can be identified if they are stolen, thereby making them less attractive to the thief. Tables and benches can be secured to the patio using bolts. Any items that can be put away easily should be stored in a secure shed or garage (but leave room for the car!).
    Planters, statues, saddle stones and garden ornaments are very valuable and often the target of thieves. Photographs of the items will help the police identify them if they are stolen. Securing them to a concrete base using metal pins is effective.
  • Defensive Planting
    Nature's own way to reduce crime. Criminals do not like climbing through prickly plants and hedges. They know that a small item of ripped clothing or blood can help the police identify them. The following list of plants is not exhaustive but includes some of the best plants to protect your garden. You can download our new leaflet here, which details these tips in a handy leaflet.
    
    • Rosa Rugosa
      Makes a fast growing impenetrable hedge, growing 3 - 4 feet in 12 months.
    • Pyracantha
      Is excellent for hedging, growing under windows or around doorways, a beautiful display of red or orange during winter.
    • Berberis
      Good for hedging and growing by walls. It has very sharp spine like prickles, which are barely visible.
    • Holly
      Many attractive varieties some variegated. Also can be planted in any area needing protection.
    • Japonica
      Can be trained up walls or pruned into a bush.
    • Hawthorn
      Makes a good hedge or pruned bush.
    • Pampas grass
      An excellent plant to put in a vulnerable corner, it has razor sharp leaves.
    • Rambling roses
      Make good cover for drainpipes or along the tops of walls.
    • Rosa rogosa
      Excellent as an impenetrable hedge.
    • Mahonia aquafolium
      Good used among other prickly shrubs or under windows.
    • Acanthus
      Grow lethal spines on the flower heads, a spectacular plant. Plant near any vulnerable access point, but be careful it is not where children could get scratched.