Landscaping to Improve Home Security

Landscaping with home security in mind goes beyond mere aesthetics – it’s about creating an environment that deters intruders while enhancing your home’s curb appeal. When considering where to plant in the landscape to improve home security, prioritize areas near ground-level windows, doors, and entry paths.

How Landscaping Affects Home Security

Landscaping is often viewed as being a superficial or cosmetic aspect of the home, but it does have functional benefits. Criminals generally will attempt to break into a home that is easier for them to access without being seen by others as this reduces their chance of getting caught, so having proper landscaping features in place can minimize the risk of a break in.

Landscaping can help play an important role in home security in the following ways:

• Landscaping may provide cover for criminals who are trying to break into your home so that passersby cannot see them from the street.
• Heavy foliage can block views of entry points into the home even during the sunny hours of the day.
• Dense foliage can create shadows at night that further provide concealment for those who may be trying to find access into a home.

What You Can Do to Improve Home Security by Using Plants

Improving home security through your landscaping is easy to do. It involves eliminating the areas of concealment around the house by managing bushes and trees near the home. Take a hard look at your home and consider the following:

Ensure that shrubs near windows and doors are no higher than waist height for the best results, and keep them thinner or spaced apart if there is room for a person to hide behind them. View your home from the street to see which trees and bushes may be most problematic for home security.

In addition, you can invest in landscape and security lighting. This may include bright floodlights with a motion sensor as well as spotlight landscape lighting that lights up the foliage at night. These days there are many solar-powered options available to help keep costs at a minimum.

Surrounding potential entry areas with a “noisy” groundcover, such as gravel, can also help alert you to potential intruders outside your house.

Smart Plant Choices to Make Your Home More Secure

Attention should be placed on areas around the house that are most vulnerable to entry. Short, dense shrubbery or thorny plants can be placed directly below windows and around vulnerable entry points, making it difficult for potential intruders to access or hide near these areas.

For a natural deterrent without sacrificing beauty, opt for plants with thorns or dense branches. Low-growing prickly varieties can be used to create a living fence along property edges and under first-floor windows. Evergreens, such as junipers and dwarf pines offer year-round beauty and foliage that is dense and spiky.  

Keep in mind that many of these species may be available in a variety of cultivars that offer different color choices and with varying degrees of thorniness. Some good options for plants with thorns, prickles, or spiky foliage are the following:

American Holly (Ilex opaca)

American holly is a North American native species with classic, glossy deep green, spiny-tipped holly leaves. American holly requires one male plant for every two to three female plants for good berry production. Small fragrant white flowers appear in summer. The female plants produce crimson red berries that persist through the winter and provide a valuable food source for winter wildlife. This is a slow-growing, but long-lived broadleaf evergreen with dense foliage that provides shelter and a nesting site for birds. A favorite for many insect pollinators including bees and butterflies!

American Red Raspberry (Rubus strigosus)

American red raspberry is a deciduous shrub native to North America. It can be found growing wild throughout much of the U.S. and Canada where it usually creates dense thickets. The plants produce long, arching, prickly canes. The roots are perennial, but the canes are biennial. That means the canes will produce flowers and fruits after the second season of growth. Blooming occurs in late spring followed by sweet and tangy, red fruits in summer. This species is also identified as Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus or Rubus idaeus var. strigosus.

Dwarf Scotch Pine ‘Nana’ (Pinus sylvestris)

A gorgeous dwarf evergreen perfect for small-space gardens or mixed borders. This slow grower is easy to maintain in the desired size and shape. Compact habit and dense branches create a solid mass of color in the winter landscape. Outstanding dwarf variety. This is a great selection for smaller yards and rock gardens. An excellent specimen, foundation, or border plant.

Red Japanese Barberry ‘Atropurpurea’ (Berberis thunbergii)

A popular shrub, which features red-purple foliage throughout the season. Provide full sun for best leaf coloration. A classic favorite for creating a landscape focal point. Plant in groups for maximum color impact. Perfect for foundation planting and shrub borders. Useful in small gardens where season long color and interest is needed.

Prickly Pear, Bunny Ears Outdoors (Opuntia species)

A rugged, drought tolerant species that adds incredible texture and interesting form to the landscape. The flat, paddle shaped foliage is covered with fine needles so take care to wear gloves when planting or weeding around this plant. A fun choice for containers, small spaces, rock gardens and border fronts.

Agave, Century Plant, American Aloe (Agave americana)

Incredible drama for hot, dry locations! Agave’s dense rosette of succulent foliage always looks good under harsh conditions. The long leaves are edged with sharp spines so take care to put in a location away from people and pet traffic. Agave is native to Mexico and has a long history of uses among the indigenous people of that region. The plant juices have a variety of medicinal and culinary uses. Agave is the base of the liquor tequila. The long plant fibers can be used for weaving, sewing and making rope.

Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)

Vigorous shrub with tangled, spiny branches and glossy, round leaves. Vibrant blooms appear before the leaves emerge in spring. The flowers are followed by attractive yellow-green fruit that is edible if certain steps are taken. Harvest the fruits after frost for best flavor. Similar to an apple, the seeds are toxic and should not be consumed. Beautiful grouped or massed in a shrub border. Thorny branches make this a great barrier hedge. Excellent for planting along fences and walls.

Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea species)

This South American native is easy to grow and offers a spectacular display of color all season long. In addition to adding a lush, tropical feel to the landscape, bougainvillea is drought tolerant, salt tolerant, and thrives in just about any well-drained soil. The vines can be pruned to maintain desired size. Beautiful trained to fences, posts, latticework and trellises. Nice for larger patio containers.

Mugo Pine, Mountain Pine (Pinus mugo)

Mugo Pine’s evergreen needles are arranged in very defined clusters, creating a pleasantly textured effect. Very attractive as a solo specimen or in combination with more finely textured evergreens or broad-leaf perennials. Beautiful grouped or massed in a shrub border. Dense foliage makes a great informal hedge row or privacy screen. Provides dramatic color and form to autumn and winter landscapes.

Hawthorn (Crataegus species )

Hawthorn is a charming small deciduous tree or large shrub with decorative cut foliage and outstanding autumn color. This is a fine choice for the landscape with its excellent combination of flowers, fruits, and ornamental foliage! Hawthorns’ clusters of small berries are a favorite of wildlife, but not tolerable to the human stomach. Available in both tree and hedging forms. Makes a lovely feature plant for a small space.

Shrub Rose (Rosa hybrid)

Shrub roses can bring color, and often fragrance to any style of sunny garden. They work well as hedges or interplanted with other shrubs and with perennials. Their glossy foliage and upright growth habit lend beauty and structure even when blooms are not present. A multitude of bloom colors and sizes are available and the flowers may be solo or clustered depending on variety.

Firethorn Hybrid (Pyracantha hybrid)

Pyracantha are spiny, glossy-leaved evergreens excellent as background, companion and hedging plants. Their abundance of colorful berry clusters in autumn brings a boost to the fading landscape. Depending on variety, the berries will be orange, red or yellow and are preceded by white blooms. A great choice for foundation plantings or hedges. Excellent for planting along fences and walls. Great for privacy screening or blocking unsightly views.

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Plant Placement and Pruning can Impact Home Security

Strategic plant placement and maintenance are key for maintaining clear sightlines from your house to sidewalks and streets. By thoughtfully selecting where and what to plant, homeowners can effectively integrate security measures into their landscape design while maintaining an inviting outdoor space. Other tips include:

• Avoid letting hedges become overgrown near entryways. Timely pruning of hedges ensures both visibility for you and a lack of cover for trespassers.
• Additionally, keep larger trees pruned so their branches don’t provide easy access to upper-story windows or balconies.
• Regularly maintaining a tidy landscape can go a long way to making sure your home looks occupied. Weedy, overgrown landscapes can suggest a property that is vacant and perhaps more easily accessible.
• Consider thinning dense areas of wild growth surrounding your property that could provide cover for an intruder.
• If you do have a home security system that includes outdoor video monitoring, make sure the camera line-of-sight is clear of any tall shrubs, grasses, or tree branches that might obstruct the view.

Everyone enjoys having some privacy around their house and it is up to you to decide on the right balance between using plants to block views and still offering enough visibility to allow observant neighbors to see when something might be amiss on your property.

A Comprehensive Approach to Landscaping for Home Security

Home security is at the forefront of many people’s minds these days, and there is good reason for this. Home invasions, burglaries and other similar crimes can result in financial devastation and can erode your peace of mind. Some may even result in personal injury to you or your loved ones.

You can combine these landscaping tips with the installation of a home security system, sensor lighting, or doorbell cameras for the best overall results. Use our Guide to Lighting Your Garden to explore a variety of ways to add lighting features that can enhance the ambiance of your landscape as well as improve visibility at night.