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A guide to landscaping for home security in Oakland

April 01, 2024
Home with new plants in mulch bed and wheelbarrow in yard

What type of message does your home’s exterior communicate to potential intruders? Are you extending an invitation with inadequate illumination and untended shrubs? Review our tips on landscaping for home security in Oakland and find how you can enhance your property’s defense.

No. 1: Keep your Oakland exterior under lights

A well-illuminated exterior is an enemy to prowlers who would prefer to conceal themselves in the shadows. Investigate your landscape to find dark areas, including the perimeter, where unwanted guests will enter. Use motion-sensing floodlights around main entrances like back doors and garages, or use more subtle lighting that remains lit overnight.

You might put lights beside pathways to help illuminate your surroundings and help you see. Accent lights next to hedges and trees expose likely hiding spots and impart a designer touch.

No. 2: Keep up with regular maintenance

What do carefully manicured hedges, fresh-cut grass, and weeded gardens communicate about you? It’s a good indicator that you heedful of your landscape and probably to your home security. Burglars are much less likely to walk into a nicely groomed lawn with mindful residents. Don’t let your home be more of a target by giving a bad impression.

No. 3: Invest in exterior cameras in Oakland

The last thing burglars would like to see perched around your home is a surveillance system. The mere presence of cameras is enough to frighten off most uninvited guests. They are fantastic for your protection and reassurance as you are able to check the video clips whenever you like from the security app on your cell phone.

Your surveillance systems could even be customized to integrate with different smart components, as you can have indoor lights turn on if a camera detects a stranger approaching. When getting them installed, keep them high enough to avoid tampering and make certain they’re situated properly.

No. 4: Make certain you have an unimpeded perspective

You must have an unimpeded view from inside. When placing plants around windows, confirm that the mature size is less than three feet. Keep your greenery pruned properly, and avoid using sizable hedges or bushes next to entrance points like garages that may act as hiding spots. When crafting a design, consider an open, uncluttered landscape that allows you to view all areas of your yard.

No. 5: Consider prickly plant life when landscaping for security in Oakland

Add an additional layer of protection with spiny, thorny, or prickly plants next to ground-level windows. Prospective prowlers will want to circumvent this defensive greenery and might need to target other principal entrance points like your front door or garage, which are usually the most fortified. Just take caution when placing them, and avoid places where kids play. And don’t neglect to position your home security signage in a visible place to tell trespassers your home is secure.

Get the best protection with a Vivint home security system in Oakland

The ideal partner for your nicely maintained landscape is a Oakland home security system from Vivint. Integrate video surveillance, door and window sensors, motion detectors, and smart lights into a full-featured plan. You can even customize automation, like having interior lights switch on if a camera detects someone lingering around your yard. Dial (510) 281-3999 today to ask about your options and moderninze your security.