When I was a kid, my friends and I used to clamber over neighbourhood walls and play in the back gardens of nearby deserted offices. Sometimes we robbed apples. They were usually sour and gave us bellyache, but it felt like a rite of passage of sorts.

But gone are the days when “robbing the neighbours’ garden” meant stealing a few apples. These days thieves target anything that can be resold easily, and with the amount we spend on our gardens having increased over the past few years, it’s no surprise that’s where they have turned.

Easy pickings include plants, garden furniture, ornaments and sheds full of tools, lawnmowers, strimmers, mountain bikes and garden furniture. But according to the national crime-prevention unit, even expensive shrubs, trees and newly laid lawns are now being pinched.

If a burglar can gain easy entry into your garden, he can then judge whether to break into your house. Often, intruders will find the tools to do so by raiding a shed or garage. Worse than having things stolen — and there are thieves who specialise in emptying sheds — is having your own tools used against you. Almost anything in your shed could be used by thieves to break into your house.

There are some things in the garden you cannot do much about, such as the lawn, but there are certain general steps you can take to increase security overall.

Back and front gardens: Different rules apply for the front and back gardens.

In the front garden, hedges and shrubs should be kept to a height of 3ft or less — otherwise thieves can use them as a screen. Avoid any dense planting in front of windows and doors as it will protect the thieves from the view of passers-by and neighbours. Gravel is useful as a surface as it makes a crunching noise when walked on.

In any case, thieves prefer to break in at the back. Secure gates to the back are crucial and should ideally be high enough to make scaling them difficult. Thieves hate being cornered and will always be looking for escape routes — if you don’t have one, your garden will be less appealing.

If you’re putting up a trellis, choose one that isn’t strong enough to climb.

Sheds: You can now have your house alarm extended to your shed. It is also worth placing a notice on it, pointing out the fact that it is alarmed — nothing deters burglars like the threat of noise. You can also get alarms for sheds. Fit a lock with fittings that go through the wood and choose a good-quality padlock that can withstand boltcutters.

Planting: Some plants provide an effective barrier, mostly those with thorny stems. Aggressive planting of hawthorn, pyracantha, creeping juniper, holly, Chinese jujube, roses, blackthorn or prickly ash will help deter criminals.

They don’t like climbing through thorny growth and know that an item of ripped clothing or scratches from thorns could help identify them if they are later caught near the scene.

Lighting: Without doubt, lighting is crucial for protection, but security lighting is different from other garden lighting. Good security options are either lights that come on automatically to startle thieves, or, better still, those that come on and stay on once it’s dark.

All outdoor lights should always be aimed at illuminating doors and windows, particularly those at the back.

In addition to these measures you can:

• Bolt down expensive garden ornaments or have the bases heavily cemented.
• Check your insurance policy — if you have valuable equipment or plants in your garden, check what your cover is.
• Consider branding expensive items and make a note of serial numbers of equipment.
• Secure property within the shed, as well as securing the shed itself.
• Weigh down expensive potted plants with blocks in the bottom of the containers.
• Use closed-end brackets to hang baskets off and combine with a suitcase padlock to make them more difficult to steal.
• Remove labels from new trees and shrubs as this advertises the fact that they are new and easy to remove.
• If you have a lot of valuables, consider installing increasingly affordable CCTV cameras.
• Don’t mortar broken glass into the top of your boundary wall or put up barbed wire — thieves can sue for damages if they injure themselves on “maliciously” placed barriers.
• Get a dog: your canine friend is the greatest deterrent to thieves

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