I've heard of incidents like this but can't say it's ever happened to me. Because I have a pretty big, pie shaped lot, the majority of my garden is in the backyard, which is fully gated and fenced. We are also surrounded at the back by 6 houses that share our fence. It's impossible to get to our back yard without going through someone's front yard. Sounds like a fish bowl, which I guess it is, but as things get growing, it seems less and less. I've only got a small planter at the front. I do worry a bit, though, about my containers when I put them out on the front driveway or on the front stairs. So far, though, they have remained intact.

Shauna

Years ago I worked with someone in Saskatoon that had her black tulips stolen from her front flower bed. They dug all of them right up in the night.

Whoever comes in my yard and steals anything, they'll be pushing up daisies ;)

In 20 years it's never been an issue. We have full wrap around garden on a busy sidewalk. I suppose a teen now and then may have snipped a tulip or rose to give to his girlfriend... I might have done the same 40 years ago.

I won't say that plants are never stolen but the issue is exaggerated. Plant rustlers are rare and anyone serious isn't going to obsess on a couple perennials. Where do they fence these?...at the local pawnshop? Many plants that 'disappear' aren't victims of squirrels, cats or thieves but just bad gardening.

My front yard is 15 feet deep by 40 feet, so fairly close to the front sidewalk/street. Fortunately, we have chain link fence. Most of my neighbors are just basic gardeners (strip in front of the house with annuals) who probably wouldn't know a rare plant if they saw it (not that I have rare plants), but my worry is ornaments being stolen. So, no ornaments in the front yard.

Last year I bought two cement planters for the front steps. I proudly planted a wave petunia in the planter. The next morning, there was a hole in the soil next to the petunia and some loose soil spilled on the steps. My first thought was that someone tried to steal my petunia, got startled (our bedroom window is close by) and ran off. It wasn't until the next night when I found a peanut on top of the soil that the hole was caused by a squirrel digging in the pot.

I have a Jens Munk rose by the chain link fence and every spring I see someone who's walking down the sidewalk stop and smell the roses and picking one off. It's not always kids either, sometimes older ladies. It doesn't really bother me, I guess it's similar to how some people pick lilacs if the hedge if close to a public sidewalk.

Glen

Sharon, would that be the Gopher Graveyard where the daisies are pushed up?? ;0)

I've probably told this before but the first year at my old house, a neighbour from down the street knocked on my door with her arms full of my Harison's Yellow blooms and said she was taking them to put on her mother's grave. She had to let herself in the gate and walk deep into my yard to do so. I was so shocked I didn't know what to say, but in hindsight I suspect she knew my Grandma who had owned the house before and didn't know she had moved. She didn't appear to be too embarassed though.

Never had anything actually stolen though. I'm wondering what will happen now that I will be gardening mostly right along the public sidewalk.

Glen - funny about lilacs - you always seem them picked and discarded a little while later, it's like they're the one flower that's public property or something.

I'm glad to hear that nothing major has been taken from anybody here. Can you imagine having your entire backyard landscaping being taken while you're on vacation, like on the daylily thread?! What a shock that would be! I do also remember reading, probably somewhere on GW, awhile back about someone planting a Japanese maple in their front yard and finding it gone shortly thereafter. Those can run quite a few hundreds of dollars to buy, and of course the person wasn't too happy about it.

Thankfully out here we just have to worry about what the deer will take. ;^)

I've never had anything stolen, but my parents live just down from the school in their town, and a couple of years ago all of the tulips mom had planted along the fence got pulled, torn in half and thrown on the side walk (all hundred or so of them)...she said she wished they had been stolen, because at least then she could imagine that someone else was enjoying them. Oh, and she has had people lean over the fence and break off lilies too. (I'm down from a school too, so I'll be keeping the flowers outside of the fence limited to self seeders for the first few years anyway.

Their town's bad though, I think it was last year that people were stealing the beautiful hanging baskets that the town had put up all down main street. And another time someone pulled all the plants out of the town planters. (There must be a serial plant hater out there.)

Verena

I don't think I have to worry about plants being stolen here, but I have heard of bored teenagers at night taking and breaking garden ornaments. So, the only garden ornament in my frontyard is a very large, very heaving granite frog by my front door. I can't even lift it, I had to get hubby to put it in place for me. I don't think they would even get out of the yard with it.

My parents use to live in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, they had a house on a corner where lots of people use to walk by on their way through the park. One day my Dad was outside working in the frontyard when two older Italian ladies walked by. My parents had a gorgeous crabapple in bloom that was sidewalk height as their yard was 3'-4' below the sidewalk. In front of my Dad, they reached into the yard and broke a large branch off the crabapple. When my Dad tried to stop them, they ignored him and continued to take the branch. Then they pretended not to speak english and continued on their walk with the branch that was in bloom. My Dad was flabbergasted and would watch them whenever he noticed them walking by. They also had a few things stolen at that house. One item was a windchime that my Dad made for my Mom that was up on the porch of the house. He made another which got hung out a kitchen window on the back of the house.

Syreeta

Oh, speaking of stolen items...my sister in law (when she was younger, and not so well behaved) with a bunch of other kids stole one ladies entire collection of garden gnomes. She said they did it because she hated them...so when she and my DB got married, for a house warming gift I gave her a gnome.

Verena