Reduce Crime on Your Rental Property With Practical Landscaping Tips

By E-Renter Tenant Screening
Posted on April 19, 2013 under Landlord Tips | Be the First to Comment

In most areas, keeping residents and your rental property safe doesn’t require bars on the windows and doors. Common-sense practices can deter thieves from targeting your property, including crime-fighting landscape design.

Properly placing plants, trees, fences and other landscape elements can make your property unattractive to thieves and other lawbreakers. A new approach is called Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, which includes using landscaping and site layout to support natural surveillance, access control, territorial reinforcement, and image and maintenance.

Natural surveillance means keeping trees and shrubs trimmed so that all sightlines are clear for tenants and people walking or driving by. This means no overgrown shrubbery in front of windows or low-hanging tree branches covering walkways.

When you discourage the wrong people from entering your property, you’re practicing natural access control. Simple practices like installing noisy gravel paths and shrubs with spines or prickly leaves can keep would-be criminals away from your rental units. Avoid shrubs and trees that allow easy access to second-story windows and balconies.

Territorial reinforcement can mean a simple fence, which designates the boundaries of the property, as well as well-placed lighting, which will reveal anyone sneaking around at night. Keep plants trimmed around light fixtures for optimum coverage.

Remember that promoting a clean and organized image sends a signal that people who live in and own the property care about it and keep an eye on it. Neglected properties with overgrown landscaping, garbage strewn about and broken sidewalks, shutters, fences and other elements invite more problems.

When it comes time for planting shrubs and trees, allow more room between them. Less is more, especially when the plants grow and fill in. You don’t want to provide any hiding places for less-than-desirable visitors!