How You Landscape Can Prevent Crime
Your landscape can do a lot more than just improve the looks of your home. If you are updating your yard, consider integrating CPTED into the design. CPTED stands for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Essentially, you are creating an environment around your home that would deter criminals and where you can feel safer. Here are some landscaping suggestions from the Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch website that you might consider for your yard to help prevent crime.
Keep bushes and hedges under three feet:
By trimming your bushes and hedges, you can increase the visibility of your property. Lower shrubbery can improve the chances of spotting something out of the ordinary in your yard. It also allows neighbours and pedestrians to take note of any suspicious activity for you. As well, if your plants are shorter, it reduces the places for criminals to hide.
Plant thorny greenery:
Trekking through a bush full of thorns isn’t pleasant, and criminals know that too. So, consider planting thorny greenery underneath your windows when updating your yard. Include plants like:
Cherry Prinsepias, Barberries, Roses, Succulents, Mugo Pine. These prickly plants will help deter criminals from breaking into your home through your windows.
When I lived in Calgary many moons ago, I had a neighbour who had planted Prickly Pear Cactus in the window wells of his basement windows. This not only deterred trying to enter the house through that avenue, but the areas under the eaves are often dry as the rain doesn’t fall there so it’s a perfect plant for the job and almost maintenance free.
Add lighting:
It is easier for criminals to remain unseen when there is little to no light in a yard. You can light up dark corners with motion-activated lights.
My personal thoughts on lighting have changed over the years. When we first moved here, we had a yard light which I rarely turned on and certainly didn’t keep on all night. My thinking was that if I had the light on then criminals would be able to see their way around. I didn’t need the light because I knew where everything was.
Constable Scharff told me on the ride-along I took a few years ago, “criminals are like rats, they don’t like the light”. He also said, “the majority of Break and Enters occur at night and/or when owners are away for an extended period of time.”
I’ve landed on the present approach with which I’m quite happy. I bought some motion sensor lights that, in my particular case, run on D batteries. I’ve found they last about a year so not a bad trade-off for those areas where I don’t have power. It also means I have no restrictions on where to put them and they do their job whether I’m home or not.
A couple of them are at the entrance to my gate. They can be synchronized with each other so that when one of them detects movement, they both come on. If someone drives up to my secluded gate at night, they are flooded with light hopefully throwing any intentions of a stealthy approach out the window. It’s also handy for our family if we come home when it’s dark, as the gate is lit up making it easier to find the lock and open it.
I have another couple motion lights near the chicken coup/run which are also synchronized so that when I go out to close up the run, I can see what I’m doing. As an added bonus, when the lights get activated, it lets me know something is interested in my chickens. Thieves are not limited to two legs.
Keep in mind that if at all possible, any lighting should conform to the Foothills County Dark Sky Initiative outlined on the county website.
Keep up your yard’s appearance:
Keeping your yard maintained and making repairs helps create the impression that your residence is frequently occupied; this makes your property a poor choice for someone looking to break in. Remember half the battle of residential security is to make your place look less easy to break into than your neighbours’. Thieves gravitate to the easier targets. As I’ve said before, this may not reduce crime overall, but it will reduce your crime.
Use signage as a deterrent.
Signage, such as those from HCRCWA, can help deter criminals from entering your rural property. Signage indicates that your property either has some form of surveillance or security in place. If your home or property is being monitored, it will be easier for a criminal to be caught.
Dave Schroeder
HCRCWA Board Member
