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Five Landscaping Tips to Improve Your Commercial Property’s Security.
Looking for ways to make your property more secure?
Whether your goal is to help your residents feel safer around your apartment complex, deter mischief throughout your park system or prevent break-ins to your office space, we’ve got a few simple ways to increase your landscape’s security through clever landscaping.
Here are five ways to safeguard your property to keep your people and assets under better protection:
1. Add More Lights
A well-lit property is more secure for two reasons: 1) because illuminated areas deter wrong-doers, and 2) because lighted areas make it easy to catch wrong-doers. By removing shadows and patches of darkness, you spotlight criminal activity in the evenings and throughout the night. Those up to mischief will avoid those bright, exposed places in fear of being seen.
Landscape lighting is especially important for commercial property owners who have waiting areas near, say, a bus or shuttle stop, or those who have communal areas like benches, tables, etc. Illuminating these spaces helps to ensure your guests are safe. This year, high-powered, minimalistic lighting is trending.
2. Clearly Define Entrances/Exits
Be sure to also light up your entrances and exits so these important areas can be seen. Spotlighting these prime points helps to increase the safety of your guests as they come and go, and also helps to catch mischievous figures. For instance, a well-lit doorway makes it easier to recognize the face of an intruder caught on your security camera or deter a thief from mugging a visitor after dark.
Another way to more easily define your entrances and exits is through clever landscape planning. Edging sidewalks with strips of small shrubs or flowers can help to direct foot traffic, for example, helping those find clear escape routes if needed. Be cautious of lining pathways with tall bushes, which can serve as hiding spots for wrongdoers and make it difficult for guests to escape if threatened.
3. Increase Tree Coverage, Correctly
Why do trees appear to have such an impact on mischief? Well-kept urban vegetation can imply a property is maintained, and that security measures are sure to be in place (more on this below). If spaced out properly, trees can also be used to frame walking areas and entrances/exits, acting as a nice indicator to a path to safety.
The way your trees are clustered and the areas they are placed, however, is very important. “Should you wish to plant trees in a row, ensure the trunk is as tall as a person— at least 5 feet— and that foliage doesn’t block your view,” we share in our article specific to landscape design to improve campus security, “This makes it easy to see or weave between or under the trees if needed.”
DID YOU KNOW? In addition to increasing your property’s safety, trees can also help to increase your property value. Learn more here.
4. Keep It Well-Manicured
Creating a zero-tolerance for deterioration and maintaining a clean property can discourage vandalism, loitering, and more. When someone maintains their property, it’s obvious that someone cares about its well-being, and mischief-makers are more likely to assume they...
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Use Landscaping Design to Improve The Security of Your Properties.
If you were to ask anyone looking for a new place to rent about their priorities, most likely they will tell you that they want a clean and spacious house or apartment that they can afford. However, in many cases, that statement is followed up with, “But I’d be willing to take a smaller place or pay a bit more if the neighborhood is good.”
The fact is, most people want to feel safe in their homes. Given that there are close to 5,000 burglaries in the U.S. every day – most of which take place during daylight hours when people are less likely to be home – it makes sense that renters are concerned about the security and safety of the property. Many people will opt for a building with a doorman, or a controlled access community to help protect themselves and their property, but installing a security system or hiring guards isn’t the only way that you can ensure the safety of your rental properties and attract tenants. Using landscape features, including trees, shrubs, and fences can help deter criminals and increase the security of the property, while also adding curb appeal.
What to Know About Burglaries
Despite what Hollywood might want us to believe, most burglaries aren’t the work of criminal masterminds equipped with fancy gadgets and exceptional acrobatic skills. On the contrary, the typical home robbery is the work of a male teen who lives nearby, most likely in the neighborhood or within a few miles, according to the Washington Post.
Because most burglars aren’t trained criminals, they want to get in and out as quickly and easily as possible. They don’t want to take chances and waste time picking locks or breaking windows or do anything that will attract attention. In fact, a barking dog is one of the top deterrents for criminals, coming in second to security cameras. In a Guardian survey of convicted thieves, the majority said that they would avoid a home with any type of security system as well, especially those with motion-activated lights.
However, the Daily Mail’s survey also revealed that landscaping features, including fences and visibility from the street, would prevent thieves from targeting a particular home. Anything that makes it easier to see what they are up to or slows them down is a deterrent and should inspire your security efforts.
The Keys to a Secure Landscape
The yard and landscape surrounding the rental property are the first line of defense against thieves. One of the simplest ways to help prevent crime is maintenance. When the property shows signs of neglect, including tall grass, overgrown trees and shrubs, and weeds, it indicates to potential intruders that the property isn’t occupied regularly. To ensure that your property is maintained, don’t leave it to the tenants. Hire a lawn mowing service to keep the grass trimmed and invest service to maintain the health of the lawn and keep it weed-free, like TruGreen lawn care services, that will ultimately improve the value of the property and help deter criminals.
Security-focused landscaping doesn’t end with maintenance, though. Even when your property is located in a safe and desirable location, you can prevent crime through design by implementing several other features as well, including:
Use gravel. Paving walkways and areas around entrances – both windows and doors – with gravel. Burglars want to be silent and stealthy, but gravel makes a lot of noise. Knowing that their footsteps can be heard will send the thief to a less conspicuous target.
Keep bushes and trees trimmed. Nothing thwarts a robbery faster than being spotted, so make it easy for neighbors and passersby to see your property. Overgrown shrubs that cover windows or trees with branches near the roof or upper-level windows give thieves a place to hide and make it easy for them to access open or unlocked windows. Make it all but impossible for someone to hide near your rental ...
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How the Right Landscaping Choices Can Increase Safety and Security at Your Apartment Complex.
Everybody wants to feel safe at home.
Sure, tenants want their homes to look nice and be welcoming, but if you neglect safety and security in your apartment landscaping, all the flowers in the world won’t keep your renewal rates up.
Are you making the right safety and security choices with your apartment complex landscaping design? Or the wrong ones?
Here’s a look:
Tree Branch Safety
Wrong Choice: Let branches grow too low, and tenants walking to their building could walk right into them. Low branches can also become vision obstructions in areas where there are exits from parking areas or streets.
Neglect dead branches and they could come crashing down onto people or vehicles.
Ignore regular, proactive pruning, and trees will become too thick and cause other plant health issues.
Right Choice: Keep branches trimmed up and out of the way. Proactively pruning trees will reduce liability concerns and help the appearance of your property as well as the overall health of your tree investments.
Shrub Safety
Wrong choice: Left unattended, shrubs can easily grow over your security cameras and lighting or block the signage tenants and visitors need to navigate. Overgrown shrubs are also perfect places for intruders to hide.
Right Choice: Your commercial landscaping company’s crews should regularly trim your shrubs and bushes to keep your property safe. Well-tended shrubs are a sign to tenants that the whole place is cared for, safe, and secure.
Irrigation System Safety
Wrong Choice: If nobody pays attention, they might not notice that sprinkler heads sometimes get stuck, protruding a couple of inches above the ground instead of staying safely tucked below ground level when not operating. That’s a tripping hazard.
Right Choice: Vigilant landscaping crews regularly...
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The work done every day by educators on every continent is being celebrated today on World Teachers' Day.
More than 100 countries recognize this special day, which is held to honor teachers and raise awareness of their vital role in the development of children.
Education International, which represents about 30 million education employees in 170 countries, has marked World Teachers' Day by...
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Let Our Expertise Work for You.
Pro Security Group is a private security firm that provides security guard services, security systems installation and monitoring, courier service, and private investigation services. We are a woman-owned security business established in 2002 and licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide security under state license TXDPS #C11055.
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