Ensure your garden is a safe haven this summer

On the eve of British summertime – officially 25th March – gardeners tend to be a little green when it comes to protecting their garden furniture and equipment.

According to Co-operative Insurance who warns that, without due care and attention the only thing likely to be growing this summer is garden theft.

Both the recent rise in UK temperatures and the impact of popular TV programmes has created a boom in garden-related expenditure, but this can so often result in easy-pickings for opportunist thieves.

Garden equipment like lawnmowers, rotavators, and power washers are all sought-after items for burglars, not to mention the decorative objects such as statues, pots, and urns. These items, given their nature, can easily be loaded into the back of a van, without attracting attention, and off-loaded just as simply at car boot sales or other outdoor markets.

British Crime Survey figures put the number of burglaries in England and Wales at almost 750,000 in 2005/06, but there are straightforward measures that consumers can follow to avoid becoming one of these statistics.

For example, leaving gardening equipment, such as spades and rakes, on your lawn provides burglars with crucial tools needed to force entry into the home. Likewise those people with large gardens should be careful to close all house doors and windows, as leaving a key on a window ledge or garden wall is a common way of attracting unwanted visitors.

Household insurance policies expect you to exercise due care and attention to prevent loss, therefore nipping inside for a cuppa whilst leaving a top-of-the-range lawnmower in full view on the front lawn, could land you in deep water when you come to make a claim.

Most insurance companies provide cover for garden contents that are left out in the open under the contents section of the home policy. However special attention should be given to the policy details, as it is normal practice for insurance companies to impose a limit on the amount paid in respect of any one claim.

Co-operative Insurance urges all homeowners to take stock of what they have in their garden and outdoor living areas, and to take adequate precautions to protect these belongings by locking them away when not in use. It also stresses that, whilst ornamental pots may well be covered under household insurance policies, any loss to plants, trees or shrubs contained within them is unlikely to be covered.

David Neave, Director of General Insurance at Co-operative Insurance, said: “Nowadays people are spending increasing sums of money on their gardens, in particular when the sun is shining. However, many people fail to appreciate the total value of their garden items and, more importantly, how to safeguard them.

“Garden valuables can be protected through your home insurance, but it is important to pay special attention to your policy and check exactly what is covered. Given the amount of time and money we now spend looking after our gardens, it should only be expected that we devote the same care and attention to the outside as well as the inside of our homes.”

To allow gardening fanatics to keep everything in their particular garden rosy this summer, Co-operative Insurance (www.cis.co.uk) has provided the following tips:

Lock your gardening equipment away securely

Try to screen your shed’s windows, so thieves cannot see what is stored in there

Do not leave doors and windows open whilst you are gardening or leave keys on view or under the plant pot – This is the number one place that a thief will look!

Mark your lawnmower with distinctive motifs in paint, or use ultraviolet markings

Alarm any outbuildings containing high value items

Install security lights as a deterrent to thieves

Place heavy weights under the soil of heavy pots, to make them difficult to move

Protect valuable statues with wireless, sensory alarms that send out a signal if anyone tries to move them

Put chains around the root ball of expensive trees and then bury these roots deep in the soil. You can also buy tree anchors to help protect your greenery

Photograph expensive garden items. This will make them easily identifiable if stolen, and will assist the insurer if you have to make a claim

Use gravel on paths so you can hear intruders. This also makes any attempted getaway with a wheelbarrow very slow

Make the most of nature and let it work for you. Use thorny plants such as berberis, holly, and blackthorn to protect your garden’s entry areas, which will also make it more difficult to scale walls and fences. Put roses and pyracantha under windows to deter thieves from forcing entry, and create barriers to entry through dense hedges formed from plants such as beech. Additional plants you can use to form part of your garden’s defences include pampas, yucca, and gooseberry bushes

Be careful not to set fire to your garden contents if lighting a barbecue. Make sure any portable/temporary barbecue is built on brick, rather than grass, and that no hanging plant matter can catch fire. Never use paraffin or petrol on a barbecue to get it started.