A crime prevention leaflet has been launched to keep unwanted visitors out of the garden this spring.
Middlesbrough police, Nature's World and Middlesbrough Temperance Society have joined forces to produce the leaflet, called Cutting Garden Crime Together.
The leaflet is full of ideas on how to secure gardens, and make the boundary of a property the first line of defence against intruders.
To launch the leaflet, the police crime prevention bus visited Nature's World this weekend, so that officers could give advice directly to gardeners.
A spokesman said: "Thieves are on the lookout for expensive garden equipment left in insecure gardens and sheds.
"Using the correct plants can form a barrier against intruders. The advice is 'grow your own security'."
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