What price garden crime?

According to the Office of National Statistics, theft from gardens is increasing at a rate  that even weeds would be impressed by. Garden theft is at its highest in Spring and Summer, thanks to the lighter evenings, and the most popular items stolen are bicycles, followed by power tools, hand tools and barbecues. But what most people are not aware of, is that garden theft is often not covered under your home insurance policy. Most insurance policies cover garden equipment to a maximum of £250, and only if it is kept in a secure garden shed or garage. But if you start to tally up the cost of your garden machinery – mower, strimmer, power tools, hand tools, etc – you will be well over that sum.  For many gardeners, the mower alone is enough to break the insurance piggy bank!

And then there are all the other items that are not even in the shed.  It is possible to find garden insurance that will cover these as well.  How much did you pay for the table and chairs, the bench, the water feature, or the statue?  The barbeque? What about all those pots?  The specimen plants that you put in them?  Thieves may target the strangest of items that you wouldn't think twice about - one person in Hurst Green came back from holiday to find the outside tap and the brass gate latch missing!  Fortunately, the water supply to the tap had been turned off before they left, but if they had been fitted with a water meter and the supply had been left on, that would have been an expensive experience, even without the damage that would have been caused...

There are some easy steps to take in the future to make sure you are covered. Work out roughly how much it would cost to replace all your items and shop around to find an insurer who will cover that amount, both in the shed and outside of it.  Make sure that the amount you specify is realistic - it will often be much more than you initially think.  Also confirm exactly what is covered and what is not - insurers may cover a significant sum, but it may not cover the plants themselves.  A shrub may not cost a great deal when you first put it in, but look around at the cost of mature plants for a replacement, and you are likely to need a stiff drink, a good sit down, and probably a second mortgage.

Remember also to take photos of any tools, bikes, etc, in case the insurer wants proof of ownership and mark all items if possible with your post code. Make sure your shed or garage is as secure as possible (a decent lock, and screws on the padlock hasp that cannot be removed), and try to restrict access to the rear of your garden, either by fences and locked gates - or how about some viciously thorny shrubs for protection?  It is also possible to buy special burglar alarms for sheds, which do not cost a great deal but will scare off an opportunistic thief.  When purchasing items for the garden, consider a version that may not be so attractive to thieves - the cost of scrap metal is so high, for example, that a bronze statue is now a liability (you do have one, don't you?).  Consider instead a bronze resin version that is lighter and has no intrinstic metal value.  Buy decent wood items, rather than iron.  Garden gates are commonly stolen if they are metal, for example.

Even plants are not immune to theft, especially those from front gardens. This month, Kew Gardens has had a very rare water lily, nymphaea thermarum pygmy, stolen from a glasshouse. Tales abound of produce stolen from allotments and plants from gardens.  I can remember, many years ago, tales of a large water lily stolen from the front garden of a house near Pollards Oak Road, that would have needed a large lorry to lift and remove it.  I also remember the gym up by the Diamond pub planting a number of azealeas along their drive, only to come in the next day and find most of them missing.  We may not be able to stop the crime completely, but we can often reduce it - and if it happens, make sure that you don't end up losing out financially.