As Britain's botanical gardens beef up security following an increase in the theft of valuable rare plants. Hannah Stephenson looks at measures we can take to protect our own garden ornaments and plants

WE MAY not have rare plants in our gardens that are worth a fortune on the black market, but our ornaments, costly containers and mature trees would cost a lot to replace.

As reports that the increase in thefts of valuable rare plants is forcing the RHS garden at Wisley, Surrey and the Royal Botanic Gardens in both Kew and Edinburgh to assess security and install extra CCTV, now is the time to think of our own plots.

Each year, property owners lose millions of pounds worth of garden equipment, including mowers, furniture, expensive statuary and ornaments and even York stone paving slabs and turf.

Here are ways to minimise the risk of theft:

Boundaries

Fit trellis on top of a fence to improve security. Trellis is fairly fragile — it won’t support the weight of a human — and is difficult to climb. But anything higher than 2-metres and you’ll need planning permission.

Grow spiky hedges of holly, berberis, hawthorn or blackthorn. Most conifers will form a thick hedge that is difficult to get through. Thorny shrubs are most effective. Other thorny shrubs which will make a medium to large hedge up to 1.8m (6ft) include pyracantha and Rosa rugosa, while low-growing thorny shrubs can be positioned at the base of fences and below windows and drainpipes to deter intruders.

Paths

Gravel paths act as a deterrent as any visitor will scrunch up the driveway or gravelled approach in the back garden, alerting the home-owner.

Plants

You may not have rare plants, but you could have valuable mature specimens in pots. If you have bay trees framing your front door, invest in the heaviest pots you can to deter thieves.

Tough, deep roots are the best anchorage. So grow plants from small specimens to allow them time and space to mature and their strong, developed root system will make it very difficult for opportunist thieves to easily dig them up.

Invest in a specialist land anchor when planting expensive trees and shrubs.

Plant new shrubs through a layer of chicken wire topped with soil, which makes them harder to dig up.

Ornaments

Take pictures of your ornaments in case they are stolen and write your postcode on them in ultra violet pen so they can be traced back to you if retrieved.

Fit alarms which will go off if they are moved, but won’t respond to wind or rain.

Secure them to the ground or to a nearby post or pillar by chaining them to an ‘anchor’. You can buy proprietary land anchors, most of which are based on a permanent stake to which the item is bolted or chained. Or fix coach bolts through the pot’s drainage holes and bolt the container to the ground. Urns, statues and large planters could alternatively be cemented in place.

Shed

Check that your shed is secure. It needs strong hinges and a good padlock. Consider fitting a battery operated alarm or even extending your house alarm to protect it.

Security mark all tools, mowers, garden furniture, ornaments and other valuables so if they are offered for sale and the thief apprehended, you may be reunited with them.

Front garden

Keep front-garden hedges and fences low — 1m is ideal — so intruders can’t hide behind them.

Hide your best specimens from view. If you really want your hanging baskets in the front, consider padlocking them to their supports, or chaining bay trees to a pillar. But remember, what is not on view is less likely to be stolen.

If you have a padlocked gate connecting the front and the back, make sure it is as high and strong as your fencing.

Use locks at top and bottom and make sure the hinges are fixed to the gatepost so the gate cannot be lifted off its hinges.

Lighting

Install motion-sensitive lights both front and back. This can be a great deterrent.

Consider installing CCTV — look for systems you can monitor from your mobile.

Insurance

Check your household insurance policy covers theft from your garden and outbuildings.

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT: CARROTS

Darlington and Stockton Times:

YOU should be able to start the first outdoor sowings of carrots now, but try to warm the soil up first to aid germination.

Your soil needs to be free of stones or you’ll get funny-shaped carrots, but, alternatively, you could grow some in deep pots of compost.

For a continuous supply of baby carrots, sow a short row and keep sowing at regular intervals during the summer, drawing out a 1.5cm seed drill and spacing the drills 15cm apart.

Water the area with a rose watering can to minimise seed disturbance and keep the soil moist until germination.

Once the seedlings are large enough to handle, thin them out, leaving one seedling every two to four centimetres.

Thin them again a month later to a spacing of 10cm.

The first baby carrots should be ready in June. Good varieties include Early French Frame, which are small and won’t fork if they hit a stone, or Early Nantes, which grow well in light, sandy soil.

BEST OF THE BUNCH: ERICA CARNEA

Darlington and Stockton Times:

Spring-flowering heather is a real winner in tubs, troughs, beds and borders, even in windy gardens. 

There are lots of different named varieties in white, pink, red, mauve or purple and they look wonderful planted in front of conifers and evergreens, as they grow to about 8in (20cm) high and 18in (45cm) wide.

They are generally lime-haters and do well planted in ericaceous compost in full sun.

If you want something slightly taller, go for E. darleyensis, which grows to about 60cm (2ft) and blooms between November and April.

They are also wonderful planted in containers with dwarf conifers, pansies, ivy and red-berried Skimmia reevesiana, to make a really colourful scene on the patio or by the front door.

Once flowers have faded, the plants should be trimmed back lightly, but make sure you don’t cut back into old wood.

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

  • Prune plum trees once they have started growing.
  • Make sure pots and seed trays in the greenhouse do not dry out.
  • Cut off dead flower spikes from summer-flowering heathers and prune young tree heathers.
  • Make the first outdoor sowings of culinary and salad herbs.
  • Apply a spring fertiliser to established lawns once they are actively growing and cut grass when it is about 8cm (3in) high.
  • Transplant autumn-sown onions to their final quarters, spacing them alternately at 12in (30cm).
  • Thin early sowings of lettuce.
  • Give roses a top dressing of rose fertiliser.
  • Sow campanulas under glass.
  • Clear remaining crops of leeks and celery so the ground can be prepared for new crops.