Yup - it was surprising how much it affected me considering it was 'just a plant'. Mind you there was a fair amount of nostalgic value in what I had stolen (and I'm a plant nut). DH and I were given a very nice pot when we married. We couldn't afford a honeymoon at the time but the following year we took a trip to Florida for our first anniversary, and I saved some grapefruit seeds from my aunt's grapefruit tree. Five or six years later I had a nice little tree in this pot and one day it disappeared from my backyard. I saw the fence swinging closed and the top of the tree disappearing down the alley, but I couldn't run right out after it because I was sitting around in my skivvies (it was really hot). By the time I threw some clothes on and ran out, it was out of sight :-(. Guess I should have given the neighbours a show of a madwoman in her undies running down the alley screaming "stop thief"!

I have seen people picking flowers at parks and from yards and I always give a 'Hey! Those aren't yours!' speech, but most people have managed to justify their actions to such a degree that they think I'm the bad guy.

Once a kid I was babysitting started to pick some flowering branches from a tree in a yard and I got her to stop it. She said her mum said it was ok - I told her no it wasn't, and why it wasn't. She understood, but her mum thought I was nuts at first when I explained it to her. I asked her if it was ok if someone stole a pie she had baked and left to cool on a windowsill, or if it was ok if someone swam in her pool without her permission. She eventually got it, but she had to be made to understand what these things meant to the people that grew them. She had always thought of flowers as part of the scenery, just background, and not as belonging to anyone.

A also had to give a similar lecture to a friend that wanted to know which of my flowers her child could pick...!!!

Of course there are the people that are just plain selfish, and know how much time and effort goes into growing these things and they just take them anyway. 'A pox on their houses', as the saying goes!

Many, many times I've seen a plant and thought to myself "I'd love to have that". But my next thought isn't "I'm going to steal it", it's "where can I buy one".

One thing you can do if you're on good terms with your new neighbours is to go around and say you've been having problems with theft from your garden and ask if they have had any similar thing happen to them? That way you have some extra eyes in the neighbourhood keeping a watch on the plants, and if the thief is one of the people you warn (or hears about it), they know not to do it again. Either they'll realize their mistake or they'll know they aren't likely to get away with it again.

BP

Yes,Ianna.I am sorry for you and your flowers and your yard as well.
I have missing plants, containers and many garden decorative items.Is your garden gate locked? Mine is not,and it forces me to think about locking my backyard-garden, but i do not know if it would be socially acceptable.I hope you will solve your problem fast.
Hala

Last year, someone had dug up two of my sedums and a spirea in the middle night from the side of the house and the front yard. Some people just don't realize how hard we work at keeping a nice garden.

A friend of ours had the top 8 feet of tree in the middle of her yard cut just before Christmas.

Gosh, compared to my experience you've all had worse experiences. These stories here are tragic. How can people act this way? Stealing so such a violation.

One only needed to ask and I would have willingly offered cuttings. My flowers are located in a front yard, hence no gates, but the plants that were picked were rather deep inside the bed. Someone had to have walked up the sidewalk to do this and made certain selections. It's telltale of an older person, not a child, or perhaps a teenager. Fortunately, these were annual flowers although not common ones.

Well, I felt sorely tested but I will redesign the yard next year to make it less vulnerable. probably surround it with barberries. Although this goes against my aim which is to make it a child's garden.

Ianna

Ianna;
Theft is theft, sorry for yours, I have had plants plucked at from the fence so hard they uprooted. My neighbor had all his new stainless steel solar lights stolen. I think Unless you have a 8' fence locking would not help.

Definitely theft is theft! Any theft from your garden is upsetting! It doesn't matter if someone picked some plain old nasturtiums or hacked the top off of a tree (WTF??). You put your time and effort into those plants and someone else had no regard for that. It was probably because you didn't plant plain old nasturtiums though that attracted the thief in the first place - they saw something unusual and pretty and decided to take a bouquet home :-(

Some thefts impact the pocket book more than others, but it's a rare gardener that doesn't attach some emotional value to each and every plant in our yards. In an odd way, we consider them our children. Whatever you have, if you love your cat, dog, kid or Spirea, you care for it and nurture it, and it hurts when someone takes them.

Ianna - are motion sensors hooked up to lights or sprinklers an option for you?

BP

Bonnie,

Thanks for the suggestions. No I cannot put a motion activated sprinkler in my front yard. I imagine my husband wouldn't appreciate getting sprinkled every time he'd need to get to the car...;o) Also, I don't want a 'lock down' approach to my front yard garden. I'd like to make this inviting and get people to respect it -- that sort of thing. It now seems the road to that place is a bit rocky now, but I feel assured I can do something about it. I'm planting more roses next year anyway and more globe thistles. My annuals will be more situated to the back of the rose shrubs and far from the sidewalk. Right now the annuals have grown in areas far into the front of the bed which is besides the sidewalk and this was an accidental result after rainwater washed down the seeds. It created a rather open field scene and a riot of colours. I had scattered peony poppies, dill and amaranthus and nigellas. so it's unusual in the neighborhood and more people seem to come out to check it out. I just noticed my lamb's ears' flowers had been nipped off - probably a child's handiwork.

Ianna

That's a hard line to walk - between looking attractive and inviting and looking too tempting. If you can't lock up your yard, then probably the best defense is to get friendly with the neighbours and start offering any extras or divisions you have around to any aspiring green thumbs. They'll become a little more protective or your nice yard if they know you or know they might someday benefit from any overflow.

If you think kids are the culprits, and you feel up to dealing with other people's kids, maybe you can invite them over next spring for a 'lesson' on how to grow some easy flowers. Pot up some sunflowers and marigolds or something else easy and send the kids home with their potted seeds and a care sheet, and maybe a bit of an appreciation for the effort you put into your garden.

BP

You just gave me an idea. I'll go with giving freebies next year and I will do it with some little notices to nearby neighbors.

I've tried to make friends with nearby neighbors but it's been difficult. Many are terribly conservative and just prefer to keep to themselves. Anyway, that's a great thought. thanks.

I can empathize with you Ianna. My excitement turned to anger a few years ago when someone yanked my Hollyhocks right out of the ground. Some plants were taken away and others were just left strewed about the gardens. These were the first ones I had grown.

A couple of years later I discovered who had done this. It was a boy in the neighbourhood. He had made friends with my daughter and she brought him over to see the butterflies in our gardens. Next thing I know, I'm getting an apology. I never knew it was him... He said that he just wanted to bring home flowers to his mom that day. I figured that at 7 years of age, he didn't know any better at the time. Apology accepted.

I used to cringe at the sight of the kids playing on the property, fearing they would do damage to the gardens. I don't anymore. I now invite them to come and see what's growing and going on. Yesterday, Vanessa (5 years old) showed-up and asked if she could have a bouquet for her mom as a surprise. I can't describe how I felt! She's so cute! We picked a beautiful bouquet and she left as happy as a clam!

They now know they just have to ask.

My situation became so bad I had to install security cameras.
So far I haven't had any unknown visitors, other than raccoons, (they're next) I do intend to replace 2 Franklinias, 3 Magnolias, Chitalpa, and others. They don't even fill in the holes when they leave. Rai

"They don't even fill in the holes when they leave." That is funny, Rai. Thanks for the chuckle. We can only hope that gardeners will be more thoughtful than the run-of-the-mill criminal. LOL LOL

My mistake is putting an Annabelle hydrangea close to the sidewalk. Pick, pick, pick...I call it my "bald-headed hydrangea." Children pick the blooms; they probably are impressed by the size. However, it is aggravating.

Rhoda

i used to sell at farmers markets and had a lady who bought 2 hanging baskets a week for about six weeks. I commented that her place must be looking really nice with all those baskets and she told me they were ripped off usually within a couple of days of her putting them up. It was good for buisness but I felt really bad for her and gave her a couple of free ones and suggested to her to hang them higher. It didn't help the thieves still got them!

It's a shame people can't keep what they want in their yards without worrying about theft. Fortunately, my immediate neighbors aren't exactly the gardening types. Still, I really limit what I keep in the front yard, definitely no lawn ornaments.

For the hanging baskets getting stolen, perhaps tie some wire around the hook on the hanging basket and then tightly around the hook on the house overhang? I guess it might be for nothing anyways as it depends on how desperate the person wanted the hanging basket is and if they would take the time to unwind the wire (or just yank really hard and do damage to the house hook). Maybe embarrass them and make a statement by putting a chain and lock on the hook.

Glen

Just a thought, Prickly Pear Cactus and Thistles might look grand in ones front yard. Purple thistle interlaced with the yellow of the cacti ... hmmmm

Ianna, I know exactly how you feel, me too. Over the years I have lost a lot of different plants. Some that come to mind are:
I grew some very nice primula from seed, I had several especially nice ones in a planter. Someone can in the back yard and helped themselves to a beautiful midnight blue primula.
I grow a lot of Fuchsias, an addiction with me LOL, one day I came home to find someone had come into my shade house and stole a large plant I had of Lechlade Gorgon, this is a Fuchsia that looks like a spray of lilac when it blooms.
Another time I came home to find one of the Clivias I had out in the garden for the summer took a walk? These last two were behind a 6ft. fence.
I mistakenly planted Leucojum vernum in the side yard, they were multiplying nicely, some one dug up the lot. These guys were hard to find and they were quite expensive to replace, now planted in an undisclosed spot.
Last year my Hydrangea Ayesha at the top of the driveway, well, we came home one day and someone had cut all the skeletized (sp.) flowers off that I leave on for a bit of extra winter protection, some years we have a late freeze after a warm spell and I get dieback, I find leaving the old flowers on till there's no danger of a freeze works for me. I have one flower head starting to form now but it's much to late in the season.
I am a person who loves to share what I grow, if they'd only ask. If I ever catch the person/s at it, they are going to be so very, very, sorry. Mind you the years we had a Doberman behind our 6ft. fence we never had a problem with theft. What kind of a dog do we have now...I'm not saying :o).
So you see Ianna, unfortunately you are not alone.

A......

I am across the street from a high school. Theft season is a couple of days before Mother's Day. I'm not too upset if it's just the impatients pulled out of a container or the tulips are cut. What's really upsetting is the loss of rhododendrons, which are expensive and require a lot of care. I think part of my anger is that I know the shrub is not going to get the attention it needs, and will just decline and be tossed out in a couple of weeks. If these mothers knew!!!!

Janna,

That is terrible. In this case, have you considered putting up a fence or a border. Rhodos are expensive especially if these are a good size. Perhaps if you were to plant a shrub, you will need to secure it's base with heavy duty wires. If I were you, I'd also put up a notice around the neighborhood about the missing shrub and the cut plants. Someone's mom will see that sign and know the truth. And by the way, spy cameras linked to a computer are now more affordable. If you experience this amount of thefts, perhaps it's time to set up some security cameras, plus a sign.... Smile you are on camera.
I have actually began to take steps to prevent future sticky fingers. I have some prickly plants, including a globe thistle in the front parts of the yard. I have some sacrificial plants further up front. You see, I like to share the garden with young children and so I'm not adverse to sharing the yard. It's when people start helping themselves to specific hard to grow plants that I consider stealing. Next year's garden will be crammed with plants to the hilt, making it difficult to access the pricier plants. I'll also choose annuals that wilt easily if plucked. The thing is, I'm the only one in the neighborhood it seems, who has a cottage garden. Many people do come over to inquire about what I've been doing. I'm happy to share concepts and even share plants. So, we'll see..... Right now, however, I'm tackling theft of a different sort. Squirrels trying to get at my tulip bulbs. I've so far managed to deter them by overplanting my tulips with daffodils and narcissus.

Aftermidnight... I'm a hydrangea person. I have several of limelights in my backyard and have recently planted some annabelles in the front yard. I too prefer to keep the dried blooms on until the following spring. It just makes me wonder what type of person would dare to help themselves to prune your shrub. Probably a neighbor wanting to create a holiday wreath.......

I do have a fence and my containers are right by a big picture window. So it takes a lot of nerve to come and dig up my shrubs in the dead of night. Quite a few of my neighbors have had plants lifted. I'm sure the cops roll their eyes every time I make a report!

I also have a big squirrel problem and it's only one squirrel. He's developed a taste, after months of trial and error, for ripe tomatoes and strawberries. I haven't eaten a fruit for weeks. Today I caught him in the backyard with a huge beefsteak tomato that was just ready to pick. It was half his size, so it was hilarious to watch him try to get it into a portable package.