Homeowners to spend £56m on gardens this summer

The majority of homeowners who have gardens (92%) will be spending a staggering £56million on their gardens over the next three months, with one in ten homeowners spending in excess of £500 according to a survey by esure home insurance. The value of household contents will increase as a result and as the longest day of the year approaches, this could potentially see a rise in garden theft this Summer.

It's a peak time for opportunistic thieves, yet worryingly, over half (52%) have never thought about improving the security of their garden to prevent thieves from taking costly items - that are often left out overnight - such as lawnmowers and bikes. One in twenty gardeners (6%) have thought about improving their garden security to keep thieves out but have done nothing about it.

Two thirds (76%) of homeowners own a garden shed with contents worth an average of £550 but nearly one in ten (8%) do not securely lock their shed when not in use. The survey further reveals that over 1.4 million homeowners have had something stolen from their garden shed in the last year.

esure's 'Garden Gear' survey reveals the top five items homeowners will be planning to buy for their garden this summer:

Plants / shrubs (64%)
Garden furniture (26%)
Garden tools (23%)
Patio / decking (15%)
Pond / water feature (10%)

Nikki Sellers, Head of Home Insurance for esure said: "With the lighter evenings and pleasant summertime temperatures, many of us will be spending more time and money on our gardens, than the inside of our homes and will be splashing out on costly new garden furniture and equipment. However, it is all too easy to retire inside as it gets darker, leaving items unsecured in our gardens or sheds unlocked as easy targets for opportunistic thieves.

"But these investments needs protecting. It is imperative that everyone should get in to the habit of safely tidying away and locking up their garden gear whilst also taking reasonable care of securing their household perimeters" .

esure has put together some simple steps to secure your garden this summer:

Keep an inventory of items kept in your garden and outbuildings, with photographs if possible, to help in the event of any claim.

Make sure that shed doors are fitted with a good strong padlock and are solid enough not to be easily kicked in or broken into.

Make sure that garden tools and ladders are locked securely away - they can be used by thieves to break into other outdoor buildings and your home itself.

Check that your hedges are compact and make a good barrier, but make sure that they are not too high that they conceal the view. Some hedges may look green and healthy at the top but have holes and dead wood lower down which are easily crawled though. A thorny hedge is ideal.

When putting up a shed place it so that the windows are facing the garden rather than the street.

Check fences for missing or loose planks and panels so as not to give thieves easy access to your property.

'Noisy' surfaces, such as crunchy gravel, can act as a deterrent to thieves.

Add security lighting.