Now Blooming

July 2006

Make Your Landscape Designer Your First Defense Against Crime

By Rachel Ezekiel-Fishbein

Most likely, four out of five people will recommend an alarm company to help increase the safety and security of your home (the fifth might suggest a professional baby proofing firm or a guard dog).  Chances are, however, that none will suggest you call your landscape designer. But, according to Brad Baker, president of Wyncote-based Baker Creative and a certified Pennsylvania horticulturist, your landscape designer can and should be your "go-to" guy for affordable recommendations to help enhance the safety of you and your property.

"Safety means different things to different people:” explains Baker. "It can mean ensuring visibility in entryways and exits; it can mean maintaining hazard-free walkways; and it can even mean creating a place for everything, so clutter doesn't get underfoot and send you to the ground. Regardless of your definition, your landscape designer is the person who approaches the exterior of your home with a long-term vision and can help you strategize safety and security measures which maintain their effectiveness over time and enhance the aesthetics of your home."

While Baker is not recommending foregoing the alarm system, nor is he against the addition of a protective pet to your household, he is quick to suggest you consider the majority of stories you hear about how harm has come to homes. Chances are, most result from such occurrences as a slip on stray ice or a fall on an uneven pathway.

Whether home security or garden-variety safety is your concern, the first thoughts you give to solutions may best be in the domain 'of lighting. Consumers today have a wide range of outdoor lighting choices. While traditional security lighting may outshine the others in intensity, often it's not the brightest idea for either beauty or safety.

"A lot of the security lighting now is so bright it basically blinds you to seeing the darker spots of your home and can diminish your view of the landscape or more important, of someone lurking in the bushes:' says Baker. "Each property has different needs, but I generally recommend that my clients use low voltage lighting which provides broad light and increases overall visibility.  Often directing low voltage lighting downward from a tree or the roofline better highlights an area such as a walkway or steps than the more commonly used fixtures that pop out of the ground. These low voltage lights are also easier to hang from above, because they don't need the conduits that high voltage options require."

Deciding where to place your lights is crucial. Your landscape is a constantly changing environment, and the last thing you want is to install new lighting in a place where your greenery will obscure it several months down the road. Your landscape designer should be able to advise you about the best place to install lighting and- if full-service - manage or contract the lighting installation for you, then taking responsibility for the pruning necessary to keep it effective. For most homes, key areas to highlight include entryways, parking areas, trash can storage and utility space.

Baker also cautions not to underestimate the impact that pruning can have on your home's safety, even in areas without lights. Pruning with an eye for safety includes ensuring you can see when you pull out of your driveway, keeping your plants from overpowering your walkway, and seeing that you don't get poked in the eye by branches packed with snow and ice while entering or exiting your car or home. With safety in the equation, your landscape designer can make you and your guests feel more at ease approaching your home.

As the person charged with keeping the outside of your home beautiful, your landscape designer should be able to develop safety recommendations which are consistent with your design goals.
For instance, a softly lit entryway can be enhanced with colorful planters, which become more prominent due to the lighting. Or, plans for the placement of unique garden art might change so the sculptures can bask in more light and perhaps even serve surreptitiously as guideposts to direct foot traffic away from bumpy patches of walkway.

Regardless of your sense of design, Baker cautions that you walk tight past all of the fancy, expensive light fixtures and remember that your home, your art and your plants should be the focal point of your landscape - the lights are just tools to keep you safe, secure and make everything more beautiful.

Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist Brad Baker is president of Baker Creative in Wyncote. To see Baker's designs, visit www.bakercreative.com.

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