• Blog
    • General Gardening
    • Gardening for Children
    • Gardening Videos
    • Insect Pests
    • Landscape Design
    • Trees
    • Vegetables & Fruits
    • Weeds
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Event Announcements
  • Gardening Videos
  • Resources
    • Western North Carolina Gardening Guide
    • Online Resources
      • Soil Testing Information for Home Gardeners
    • Speakers Bureau
  • Garden Helpline
    • Collecting Samples of Plants and Insects
  • The Learning Garden
  • About Us
    • About Us
      • How to Become an Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer
    • The Association
    • Contact Us
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Sponsors
      • Sponsors: 2019 WNC Gardening Symposium
    • Donate
Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County
Blog / Landscaping / Landscape Design / A Project to Replace Recreational Pruning

A Project to Replace Recreational Pruning

January 7, 2016

Now that cold weather has eliminated recreational pruning for 2016 here’s an outdoor landscape challenge for you, one that also involves your trees and shrubs: Survey your property to see how those plants add to or reduce the security of your home. Then make plans to rectify the situation. A few alterations to your landscaping can be enough to put off potential offenders.

Start by standing back and imagining you are a professional burglar. To avoid getting caught, intruders look for property they can get into and out of quickly. Their ideal target is a house surrounded by large hedges and shrubs, hampering visibility from the street and neighbor’s houses. Too often we use boundary plantings that serve as walls for privacy – evergreen walls!

image

Shrubs close to a house or along walkways are other potential shields and should be low, not more than four feet tall and set back.

Trees that could be climbed and allow access to open second story windows are tempting. Trellises might be used as ladders too. And those trees might  be limiting coverage from your exterior lighting more than you want. Check that out, and while you’re at it, are there other places where lighting, perhaps motion-controlled, would be appropriate?

You might plan to place spiny (thorny) plants along fences, under windows and to block pathways being used as shortcuts. Such plants will discourage even the most nimble intruder. Protecting with spiny plants is as effective as the use of barbed wire and a lot more attractive.

This could become a community project, bringing neighbors together on nice, non-football, weekends. And that would bring up questions like “Are our fire hydrants easily visible?” Or has someone try to hide that ugly thing? Also ensure street signs and house numbers are clearly visible so visitors and the fire or police departments can easily find you in all seasons.

Written by Glenn Palmer, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Categories Landscape Design Tags landscape planning, pruning, safety

NC Cooperative Extension; Empowering People, Providing Solutions

Blog posts written and published by Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers in Buncombe County.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to our blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,716 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • Saturday Seminar: Pruning Tools Workshop—Tool Selection and Sharpening, February 18
  • Online Seminar: Fruit Trees for Home Gardens February 16
  • Dramatic Winter Damage? What Should I Do?
  • What’s THAT Evergreen? Can I grow it?
  • A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains: The Perfect Holiday Stocking Stuffer

Categories

  • Events
    • Extension in Buncombe County
    • Extension Master Gardener Plant Clinic
    • Lectures & Seminars
    • Plant Sales
    • School Garden Grants
  • Flowers
    • Bulbs
    • Perennials & Biennials
    • Roses
    • Wildflowers
  • Gardening for Children
  • Gardening Videos
  • General Gardening
    • Installation & Planting
    • Mulch
    • Native Plants
    • Propagation
    • Seasonal Chores
    • Soils & Fertilizers
  • Houseplants
  • Landscaping
    • Firewise Landscaping
    • Landscape Design
    • Site Conditions
    • Water Management
  • Lawns
  • Pest Management
    • Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
    • Invasive Plants
    • Pesticides
    • Weeds
  • Plant Diseases
  • Plant Insects
    • Beneficial Insects
    • Insect Pests
    • Invasive Insects
  • Shrubs
  • Special Gardens
    • Container Gardens
    • Herb Gardens
    • Pollinator Gardens
    • Rain Gardens
    • Shade Gardens
  • Trees
  • Vegetables & Fruits
  • Wildlife

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

Events

Keep up with our events by subscribing to the blog or checking our Events Calendar.

Explore the Archives

Back to Top

Copyright © 2023 Extension Master Gardeners of Buncombe County. Privacy Policy.