Yeah, I mean that’s def a weird situation lol...but I feel like if I had some pretty meadow that I was trying to block I could see why someone would cut them down...even if that’s wrong and just plain tacky, it still sucks....in my situation, I have a very ugly rusted chain link fence at the top of a steep slope that’s too steep to mow, and it’s 70’ long! It’s always such an eyesore because I can never get around to weed whacking it due to my arms turning to noodles by the time I’m a third of the way thru...thus why I’ve now put my focus into getting some shrubbery established so I can slowly but surely, end the need of mowing there...it should be something my neighbors would WANT to happen, seeing it truly is such an eyesore...yet instead someone decided to dig them out and take them?! I just don’t understand who thinks to do that?!!

A mature baptisia was blooming on Mother's Day weekend. I hope that the mom who received it enjoys it as much as I did. I'm sorry that your thief seems to be local.

People suck sometimes...and then as I decide to take another walk around my yard to see if anything else was missing...I step in a HUGE pile of dog crap!! I don’t own a dog, and neighbors walking their dogs on my property has been an ongoing issue...I’ve about had it!

A horticultural supply house and nursery I worked at many years ago offered an anchoring device that contractors could use to keep newly installed shrubs from being pulled up and taken away.

The family that used to operate a landscape and nursery business out of their wooded property below me here once had some of their potted stock disappear in the night. It was summer and one of the adult sons happened to be sleeping outside, was awakened by two figures walking by in the dark, each carrying plants.

The resulting car chase revealed, when the perpetrators gave up and pulled over that it was a landscape contractor(?) and their client grabbing stuff to plant on the client's property.

Yeah, it happens.......cheesy, thieving a**holes are everywhere!! My own, previous garden was fully fenced and I now live out in the boonies so really not much chance of thievery. But it happened at a nursery where I used to work. It was located on the corner of a major intersection and had a broad band of land outside the fence on two sides that had been planted to accent the nursery and showcase some of the plants. Right before closing one evening we saw a pickup pull up to the intersection, two guys jumped out, both pulled up a couple of shrubs/trees, tossed them into the back of the pickup and took off. Too fast to even get a plate number!!

And even though the property was fully fenced with an 8' tall chainlink with locking gates, we got some theft from yahoos scaling the fence and tossing potted trees and shrubs over it to their waiting accomplices. We just relocated most to an area well away from any accessible fencing. And installed a 24 hour caretaker :-)

I have also had complaints from clients who reported thefts of plants as well as planted containers and garden ornaments.

No, not my trees, shrubs (planted or containerized), and my plant hoard is ENORMOUS. BUT, I had a gone to bed one night and in the morning discovered someone had stolen an outdoor, power cord from the side of the house. It freaked me out, the sense of violation, the power cord was not even valuable (PLANTS ARE!) And never any packages stolen! I KNOW it was some landscaping crew in the early morning, my neighbors told me that that garden equipment stolen (stealing rakes..., honestly?!).

How dreadful! It is such an awful feeling of violation and distrust. I’ve had bulbs stolen along with some wild plants taken off my property.

Since you already have some Physocarpus, you can start new ones from cuttings.

Someone stole all my potted and hanging plants off my front porch one night. They came back the next night and stole my gigantic ficus tree, the one that took two people to move inside for winter.

I hear you, that really sucks and it is hard to let go. I don’t think they would have pulled out some Rosa Rugosas...ouch! Cameras are cheap these days; get some to record day and night activity but most importantly, to deter people. Make the cameras visible. Good luck!

Cooper8828 that’s my fear! That they’re going to take my trees next! I have a dwarf Red Dragon Japanese maple out there, it’s only a year in the ground so it’s still really small...as far as landscapers/contractors taking items, there is a house across the street that is having all types of work done on it...and tbh, they were the first people I thought of!! But where I didn’t actually SEE them take it, I didn’t want to just accuse them...but give me a break, I know my neighbors...most have really nice yards (better than mine!) so they wouldn’t be the ones to take them...I feel like it HAS to be the house under construction...but how do I approach them? I tried knocking on their doors yesterday, but nobody answered :/

I would be pissed beyond belief. People with their lack of civility and self entitlement make me sick.. I hope Karma kicks them in the @ss.

Hopefully, I won't be dealing with people stealing my plants, because I have security cameras facing each section of our property. For less than $200 we have some peace of mind of not having to deal with criminal behavior. We also use Blue Iris software with our cameras, It's the best software for nighttime vision, which is when people are most likely to steal plants.

See, this is the sign I made near one of the holes where one was planted...and this is the house pretty much directly across....the houses you see, are the ONLY houses on my street...like I’ve said, I live on a dead end road in a very discreet area

Ilovemytrees what type of cameras do you have? I feel like cameras will be tough for the area they stole them from because my house is set back from the road, and the slope makes it tough to see the front where they were.

I don't know if they were stolen, but I planted three Rozanne geraniums in my front bed last fall and all three disappeared. They were either stolen or eaten, can't be sure which.

Nessdizzle, we got this one:

Amcrest 4MP POE IP Camera UltraHD Outdoor Security Camera Bullet - IP67 Weatherproof, 4-Megapixel (2688 TVL), 98ft Night Vision, Surveillance Camera, IP4M-1024E (Black)

Amcrest is a great brand. We love the quality of our cameras and the Blue Iris software.

Whatever you do, don't get a fake camera!! Criminals can tell the difference, and by the way, real cameras DO have a red light. Also, you will need to get a camera that will go the distance needed for how far away your plants are. Our house is very close to the road. I'm guessing about 35ft off the road, but I wanted the cameras to have the distance to go the length of our property. Different cameras have different distances. I believe back in May when I was shopping on Amazon for the cameras I saw some that go 150ft, but we didn't need that much distance. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks, I’ll look into those now!

Ok, so ...update! When I came back from dropping my kids off at school...I noticed whoever took my shrubs, brought them back!! But only 2 out of the 3, and they just tossed them on the grass with the root ball exposed...idk how long they were there? But I know they weren’t there yesterday, and the root ball felt moist still...I plopped them back in their holes they were in...but I only had potting soil to back fill the air gaps that were created when they were taken...what do you guys think the chance of survival is for these? Esp after the root ball was just left exposed for possibly 12 hours at most, and 1 hour at minimum?

Glad a couple came back. They should survive. Physocarpus are tough. Mulch well to help keep root temperatures warmer for longer.

BTW the entire situation is weird. Perhaps kids responding to your sign?

Put a sign out saying they have one left to return, and that you're gathering evidence. Scare the absolute sh*t out of them!! I don't think the thieves are kids though. I think the people most likely to do this are middle aged people. Kids don't care about stealing plants. I am glad you got two of your plants back and I hope they survive. Best of luck.

I think it was an older lady, because when I was leaving to pick my kids up from school I noticed the lady that lives in the house that’s having work done stopped at where my sign was, then pulled in her driveway, turned around and left...next morning my shrubs were there....it had to be someone that knew what they were...they were only babies that were ‘half dead’ when I bought on clearance...although they had bounced back when I first planted them...so unless you know what they are, they just looked like random sticks with some bits of foliage left on them...I knew from the start it had to be that house....

I'd want to fence out that street anyway.