Foundation Shrubs for Home Security

In my recent article, Ten Simple Landscaping Ideas for Home/Land Security, the first two safety precautions were: 

1. Choose low-growing foundation and border shrubs. (Low-profile shrubs require less pruning to keep them in bounds);
2. Prune foundation shrubs to 3 feet high. (This might be necessary if you are working with an existing planting.)

The reason should be obvious; home intruders prefer to do evil in secret than in plain view.

Here are two examples.

This one shows a clean foundation planting with few places to hide.

This one exhibits a foundation planting that practically hides the house.

Which home would you choose to burgle? (Don’t get any ideas, now. Google is watching you!)

Some examples of low-growing shrubs include:

• Dwarf yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria ‘Nana’),

  

  Dwarf yaupon holly

  
  

• Carissa holly (Ilex cornuta ‘Carissa’),
• Japanese holly (Ilex crenata ‘Helleri’),
• Dwarf nandina (Nandina domestica ‘Alba’, ‘Firepower’ or ‘Filamentosa’),
• Dwarf gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides 'Radicans'),
• Buddleia 'Blue Chip' (PP19991),
• Satsuki azaleas (Rhododendron indicum cvs),
• Miniature crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia hybrids such as ‘World’s Fair’, ‘Chickasaw’, ‘Pokomoke’, etc.),
• Bird’s Nest Spruce (Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’),

  

  Satsuki azaleas

• Ground cover junipers (J. procumbens ‘Nana’, J. horizontalis‘Wiltonii’, J. conferta ‘Blue Pacific’).

This is by no means an exhaustive list.

Don’t think that tall plants are always excluded. If they're narrow, they don't provide such good places to hide. Some fine examples include:

• Sky Pencil holly (Ilex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’),
• Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens),
• Columnar yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria ‘Will Fleming’).

  

  Sky Pencil holly

Foundation shrubs such as these will help to make your home a safer place for yourself and your family.

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