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Dig This
Friday, September 8, 2000
Burglary Prevention Council
Ample low-voltage outdoor lighting is important for home
security and also enhances a property's appearance.
THE fortress school of thought, with its 12-foot-tall, dense hedges to shield property from the prying eyes of potential thieves, is misguided, according to law enforcement professionals. Practice safe landscaping
"There's a difference between privacy and security. If you want privacy, get curtains," said Andrew Bonifacio, Wahiawa district resource officer and crime prevention specialist with the Honolulu Police Department.
High walls and hedges are actually a security risk, because once they are breached, they shield the thief from view.
"If you have shrubbery beyond 5 feet in height, criminals will feel safe. Once they get beyond the hedges, they feel they can go about their business at their leisure in terms of breaking into the home," said Sgt. Gary Kawasaki, community policing specialist for East Oahu.
Watchful neighbors and and patrolling police officers are a homeowner's best defense against property crime.
"You want people to be able to see from the street to the walls of your home," said Bonifacio.
"Burglary is a crime of opportunity," he said. "If I'm going to commit a burglary, I'm going to drive around the neighborhood and pick a house with low visibility or no visibility."
HPD offers home inspection tours in which an officer will evaluate landscaping and other security issues. The department also is available for consultation in the planning stages of home construction or landscaping, Kawasaki said.
Tips include: Keep trees and shrubs trimmed so they do not block the view to doors and windows where a burglar can gain access to your home; and consider security issues when installing fencing and outdoor lighting.
Even without high walls, homeowners can limit access to their property.
"Make it harder to get into and out of the house," said Mark Takemoto, landscape consultant. "Gates can be part of the landscape." Chain link fences, in particular, provide a barrier without compromising visibility.
Motion lighting also is valuable, particularly in the backyard as most break-ins are from the back of the house, Takemoto said. "Garden lighting is fairly inexpensive and easy to do on your own," he said.
In addition to wanting burglars to feel exposed on their property, homeowners must take care to limit points of entry.
Keeping doors and windows locked is a major recommendation, of course. Less obvious perhaps is keeping gardening and construction tools locked away, not to prevent the theft of the tools, but to prevent their use by the burglar.
"Leaving tools out which will aid criminals in gaining access to the home is a security risk," said Kawasaki.
Trees also can be used to gain access to your home. Keep limbs pruned so they do not provide a ladder to second-story windows, advises the Chicago-based Burglary Prevention Council.
Low, thorny shrubs can be used near windows to discourage access, but that strategy has its drawbacks. First, Takemoto pointed out, with Hawaii's termite problem, it is best to avoid planting right up against a dwelling and cutting off access to the base of the home. Second, you do not want to compromise emergency egress from your home, particularly from bedroom windows.
Thorny shrubs do serve a useful purpose as a perimeter planting, said Kawasaki. While they are no guarantee of security, they are a deterrent, he said, because they slow access, and complicate the burglar's escape route.
Takemoto had some recommendations for security hedges.
"Natal plum is probably the best for couple reasons," he said. "It's very drought resistant. It's very easy to maintain in that it is not terribly fast growing." Inexpensive and easy to find in nurseries, it is available in tall or creeping growth habits, he said. Natal plum should be lightly trimmed a couple of times a month. The thorns on new growth are soft, making it easier to clean up clippings, he said. Clippings can be left to mulch under the plant.
Bougainvillea is another option, said Takemoto, who recommended looking for slower-growing varieties. He also warned that shrubs planted under the eaves of a house would not likely get enough sun to bloom well.
Night-blooming cereus, which guards the top of the wall at Punahou School, is another fearsome plant, but the gardener might get scared off before the burglar. It is a fast-growing plant with thick, thorny branches to trim.
Takemoto also mentioned roses, but doesn't recommend them. They are among the more high-maintenance of the thorny shrubs, he said, and most types do not grow thick enough to provide adequate protection.
Overall, keeping a tidy landscape, and even a well-manicured lawn, is good for security, according to the Burglary Prevention Council. "In the eyes of a burglar, an overgrown lawn suggests a vacancy and possible burglary target," according to the council.
There's no magic answer, but a few thorns here and a motion-sensitive light there can keep your home a bit safer.
"We put in deterrent factors," said Kawasaki. "There is no way to 100 percent burglar-proof your home. All we are saying is, make it as difficult as possible."
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
Stephanie Kendrick's gardening column runs Fridays in Today.
You can write her at the Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802
or email skendrick@starbulletin.com
