The first thought of many is to put up 500W halogens on the front and back of the house.  These are fine if you want to convince wildlife that you’ve signed up for a premiership football club, but would you do that indoors? Reduce costs and impress the neighbours by installing low wattage spotlights beneath trees and shrubs around the boundary, linked to a motion sensor.  Not only do they highlight the good work you’ve done in the garden, but you’ll be lighting the perimeter, not the house, making it harder for intruders to make their way into the garden unnoticed.

Discourage unwanted visitors by using tried and tested plants at vulnerable points along the boundary like the tough Pyracantha ‘Saphyr Red’ and Berberis darwinii, both thorny and evergreen right through the year.  If you’re planting expensive plants in the front garden, don’t forget, labels are a dead give away that the plants may be new and not anchored in the ground, so remove them and tuck them just under the soil next to the plant.

Shingle paths can help to betray intruding footsteps and if you’re keen on terracotta, place a deep layer of the same material in the base of pots to make them heavier.  It also helps with drainage over the winter months. Statues can be electronically tagged to sound an alarm indoors when removed from the garden and benches can be secured in concrete footings to prevent light fingers lifting them away.

If you’ve got expensive tools in the shed, place ornamental trellis work over the side windows and face the door towards the house. Many people try to hide the shed from the house which only makes it easier to be broken into.

As the television saying goes, “don’t have nightmares!”

BACK to the advice point, please