I think weighting them with the blocks is a good idea. You might also put some gravel in the bottoms for drainage and weight.

I think I posted about what I believe were the door to door mulch sellers stealing my nice 2 ft statue and ~40-50 lb quartz rock. It made me so mad. They weren't even on display, they were behind a bush because I hadn't figured out where I wanted them. Everything nice is behind the fence now except the pot with the gardenia.

My neighborhood is prone to porch theft. My sister gave me a lovely potted petunia in full bloom and it was stolen.

Drill two holes into the lip of each plastic pot several inches apart and string a long length of heavy fishing line into one hole and out the other, then tie the fishing line to the porch.

Not only have they stolen potted plants from the porch, in one instance they also took the lovely, ornamental wrought iron plant stand. Makes my blood pressure go through the ceiling. :-(

Gosh, I'd want to know WHO is doing this! It would be worth it to me to put up a video camera. (Or a *fake* one, if you do not want to know.)

OMG! I feel so bad for everyone as I'm reading these stories.

I agree with the video camera idea. My neighbor has them in his front and back yard and can go and look at them for up to three days I think is what he said. He can also watch stuff if he's away. Very handy!

Here's what I've done so far and thank you for the great ideas! I too feel bad for those of you who have been the victim of thieves. It's hard to work for something or get a gift, and have it taken away like that.

The two plastic pots are pretty big, I think maybe 20 or 22 inches in diameter. So I put two landscape blocks in each (the two together are 50 pounds). Then I filled the pots with mix, and set a lawn goose on top of each one. I have 5 lawn geese, 3 large and two small. I had previously filled them with concrete so they would not walk off, the large geese are about 40 or 50 lbs. So each pot with water, plants, blocks,mix and large goose is over 100 lbs. I planted the petunias and they look pretty happy.

There is nothing to stop someone from just lifting off the goose but they won't be expecting that weight, or the weight of the pot, and by the time they think everything through my dogs and the other local dogs are going to be putting up a ruckus.

But wait! I'm not done yet! I like Graywing's idea so I burned two holes in each pot with a soldering iron. My porch is just little with no columns so nowhere to attach the line, so the pots are set on the bottom step (and the 3 geese are on the 2nd step). I have some of those short 2 feet high metal fence posts, tomorrow when I have energy again I'm going to run weedeater line from them to the pots and then pound them so the line part is underground, and maybe a separate line from the pots to the extra geese.

I may get a camera sometime, that's a good idea.

We have security cameras for a commercial property that we own. The surrounding businesses and the police have all taken advantage of what has been recorded! I can tell you stories that you would not believe!

Across the street is a real estate office. His fence was damaged and sure enough when he asked to see if the cameras caught anything, he recognized the teens who lived down the street.

Hopefully having them will prevent theft as it is time consuming sifting through hours of recordings.

An inexpensive version to the video camera are to install a Wildlife Camera. They're affordable. Can be camouflaged easily and only snap photos when someone or something steps in front of it (has a motion sensor). They run off batteries. And photos are stored on an SD card that can be easily downloaded to any computer. They take awesome photos with great detail.

I have a couple of them installed on my property for recording wildlife at the feeding stations on property. Captured some of the cutest photos of deer, coons, rabbits, fox and coyotes.

|Best of luck with your planters.

Tammy what brand of wildlife camera do you have?

Tammy, do the wildlife cameras have to be covered? I have no covering over my door. You said you've installed a couple .. any suggestions how you would do this with a door with no porch? House is brick. Would you mount it on a tripod stand and could it take the weather?

I know what would stop me from coming into your yard.........................

put a plastic snake close by. Our mail lady was telling me she had to get a signature one day and was afraid to pass that snake. The women of the house told her it keeps people from coming to her door. That would work for me too!!!!

No cover or protection at all for the cameras. They are made to be out in the elements.

As for mounting them....they can be placed almost any where. Mounted, hung, or set on the ground.

My only suggestion would be to try and "hide" them so to speak. Cover with plastic/faux greenery or anything really. The photos start snapping when they detect a motion. Could be a single or multiple photos snapped depending on disturbance.

Mine are simply mounted on a tree. The camera does NOT disturb wildlife at all. |They're not even aware they are there.

After purchase, practice with them. So you can get the best photos of their faces.

Do a search online. They're very user friendly and inexpensive to install.

I'd even put one in your flower garden to view all folks who "help themselves" to your flowers.

I live in Indiana (rural). Lots of folks use them in their driveways, garages and homes. They're not just for wildlife.

Hope that helps.

I just read the post from Lucille. I will go down to cameras to see what brand I have when I get home from work tonight.

It's amazing the quality of photos they produce.

Gotta run for now

Moultree (think spelling is wrong). Was the first purchased. And had the poorest quality.

Trail Cam great camera in the medium price range. About 50.00

Bushnell is the best of the three mentioned. It takes the best quality photos even at night. Has inferred for night vision photos (see no flash). Has a 40' range.... Can take videos or photos. Just located one on Ebay for 75.00....I paid 90.00 for mine.

You can purchase them on Ebay, WalMart, Bass Pro, almost anywhere hunting supplies are sold.

Hope this helps.

Keep us updated

O yeah, one more thing.

Be sure that when placing cameras that no limbs, greenery or flowers will sway in the breeze and cause the motion sensor to start snapping a bunch of unwanted photos. Hence why I said to practice with it a little.

A motion sensor that turns on a recording of a growling dog followed by the flash of hidden strobe lamp.

I ordered a pair of Stealth Cam P12s. Will upgrade to Bushnells in the future, but the reviews on these said that they were among the easiest to set up.

It isn't just for the petunias, I think a camera is a good idea in general. Tammy, thank you for the tips, I will practice placement so that I don't have to get thousands of pictures of swaying petunias.

Those cameras are great and very inexpensive....We don't have problems with anyone taking things but I wanted to see what critters "visited" during the night and set up a camera on the porch, had it connected to an old TV/VCR and the next morning, I watched a nice big raccoon come and enjoy the cat food...And at times, it even looked like he would look up at the camera as to say, "Yep, it's me"....Of course after that, we stopped putting food out at night for the feral cats....

I'd highly recommend the cameras........

I was thinking more along the lines of a few well-placed wolf or bear traps covered nicely with garden mulch... Maybe a sound-activated alarm to notify you when you have a visitor. Or maybe have it trigger the dropping of some bacon fat on them and release some hungry Rottweilers. Naw, feed the puppies well.

I have sound activated alarms, especially the poodle :)

As far as bear traps (I know you are being facetious), here one cannot used deadly force defending unoccupied property, which means every time I leave the house I'd have to dig up and disengage the traps.

You are welcome Lucille...sincerely hope the cameras bring you a peace of mind. I'm glad I could help...

Keep us posted on the outcome.

Enjoy the spring.

I was thinking of planting stinging nettles among the flowers! We hhave wireless WiFi cameras on our property. I can watch them from my phone or tablet where ever I am. They can record to a memory card or other media.

You could put up a sign: :-)

Finally got the cameras set up yesterday, it was a lot easier than I thought. Next week I will pull the memory cards and look at the images.

Great....glad you're up and running.

get yourself some roadkill plant on bottom.hot days it will stink...now don't try a deer a little big.They like to sleep along the roads I noticed...lol

Kim,

I think you may have had a wee bit too much cold brew on this holiday weekend if you are suggesting rotting meat as a deterrent to theft.

This may be an urban legend, but swear I worked with someone who told story to me. She had hanging planters on porch along street... semi-urban area... NOT out in the burbs. They kept disappearing?? She, or someone she knew, was NOT allergic to certain "toxic" plants, so she potted up some cuttings of poison ivy! True? Maybe not, but good revenge story anyway!!