As theft becomes increasingly common, even items like garden benches aren’t safe from desperate thieves. Especially inexperienced ones, who often target easy opportunities to snatch anything in sight, even if it’s just to fulfill their basic needs.
Fortunately, there’s a silver lining. These novice thieves usually lack the tools or know-how to bypass robust security measures. By implementing the garden bench security tips we recommend, you can either deter these would-be thieves entirely or send them scurrying quickly.
The most effective way to secure your garden bench from theft is by locking the bench inside a building or tying it down to a floor anchor or building pillar. Audible security alarms, motion detection lights, and security cameras will also go a long way in reducing garden bench theft.
9 Ways To Secure A Garden Bench From Theft
Here are some of the best ways in which you can secure your garden bench from theft.
In the first section, we look at the physical security techniques and then move to non-physical ways to secure your bench like monitoring it with lights and cameras.
Securing Your Garden Bench By Storing It Indoors
If you have any extra space in your garage, shed, or basement, store your garden bench there to put an extra barrier of protection in front of it. This is number one on this list because it’s the most effective.
Even if you don’t have the extra space in the above-mentioned areas, store your garden bench in the back yard while you’re not using it or anywhere out of sight.
Physically Securing Your Bench To Non-Movable Objects
Using a cable or chain with a padlock to lock down your garden bench is very effective in securing it. If you can manage to do this without being too obvious it will go a long way in making sure that thieves don’t come prepared with bolt cutters.
If you can, place the chain or cable through the garden bench and around an immovable object like your porch pillar or tree. If there is nothing you can secure it to, you will need to get an anchor to put into the ground or wall so that you can tie things down to it.
You can use anchors like these on Amazon for that type of set up. You can bolt these anchors into cement floors or walls and then run the chain or cable through the garden bench and through the anchor and then lock with a padlock.
Upgrade Your Fencing/Walling
Unless you already have a high concrete wall with electrical fencing on the top, you can consider upgrading your perimeter fencing or walling.
If you only have fencing, you can attach some sticks or shade netting to it to block people’s view of your garden bench. (As long as you’re ok with how the end result looks.
Solid walls that have electric fencing on top and that are at least 6 feet tall work well to deter thieves and block their site off from your possessions. A cheaper solution to electrical fencing is razor mesh or spikes that will also deter many intruders.
Light Up The Area
Invest in some LED lights to brighten up the garden bench area, thieves are deterred by well-lit areas because they know they can be easily seen by people, dogs, or cameras.
LED lights are low on power so you won’t shoot up your electrical bill by adding a few here and there.
Here are some nice lighting options from Amazon:
- EconoLED 10W RGB LED Flood Light, Outdoor with remote and IP65 Waterproof. Amazon Listing here.
- You can also get lights like these on Amazon that will only switch on if they detect motion in the area.
Use Cell Phones As Cameras/Motion Detectors
Setting up security cameras like these ones from Amazon is a great way to keep an eye on your expensive garden bench at all times but most of those options cost quite a lot of money.
If you have any spare phones laying around you can download apps like Alfred Home Security to your devices and use them as cameras that you can view at any time through any of the two cameras, front or back.
You can also set up motion detector features to notify you whenever there is movement in the area. You can also communicate through the cell phones and use the camera flash remotely at any time.
If you’re setting up cameras to monitor your garden you should definitely set those lights up as suggested in the previous security tip.
Even though security cameras and cell phone cameras do have night time viewing capabilities, having even just a little bit of light for the camera to work with is pretty much required.
Set Up Inexpensive Dummy Cameras
A much cheaper way of scaring off thieves with the use of cameras is by using dummy cameras.
Intruders won’t know if the cameras are fake or not so as long as you put them in plain view they should deter criminals from trespassing on your property.
These inexpensive dummy cameras on Amazon look believable and have one red LED light inside as well.
Connect A Small Audible Alarm To The Garden Bench
A good method of scaring thieves away from stealing your garden bench is by attaching one of these small audible alarms to the underside of your garden bench in a corner or anywhere hidden and out of the way.
If someone moves the garden bench with this alarm attached it will set off an alarm at 100dB and probably scare the thief off immediately seen as how it’s not very common for people to protect their garden benches in this way.
No thief wants to start looking around for an alarm while they’re busy stealing something. In shock, they probably won’t even realize where the sound is coming from and just run away.
Warning Signs
The best types of warning signs are those that just let people know that you have camera surveillance and/or dogs monitoring your yard.
On a side note, we don’t suggest advertising to people exactly which type of security system you have if you’re using one.
Rather just use signs that mention on-site security systems and/or camera surveillance. The less information that possible intruders have about your property the better.
Get one of these from Amazon.
Get An Insurance For Your Garden Bench
If you have a garden bench that is very valuable, you should contact your insurance company/broker and ask them how much it will be to add the garden bench to your current policy.
It probably won’t be too expensive depending on your unique risk profile and the total value of the garden bench.
Conclusion: How To Secure Garden Bench From Theft
Securing your garden bench doesn’t have to be too difficult.
If you’re in a situation where you have no space indoors to store it or if you have no immovable objects in the area you will have to lay a couple of cement blocks into the ground and then leave a thick metal hook (floor anchors from Amazon) to dry inside the cement with enough space for you to wrap a chain or cable around.
If you can block off the view to your garden bench it will help in hiding the asset from the thieves. If you don’t use your garden bench during winter it’s highly advised that you store it indoors for the winter months.
If you have other garden furniture nearby you should tie them to your garden bench to make it more difficult to steal as well. By entangling multiple objects together, you will create a more difficult situation for the thief to handle especially if they don’t have extra people helping them.
Set up motion detection cameras and lights in the area of the garden bench. That way nobody will be able to even move your garden bench an inch without you knowing about it. The motion detection lights will work perfectly at night and will trigger the camera motion detection at the same time to record the area while it’s lit up brightly enough for you to see what’s going on.
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