Beware, thieves have their eye on your… plants

Quebecers are fed up with petty criminals who steal their plants during the night, to the point where some are now exposing the thieves on social networks, to do themselves justice.

“It really surprised me that someone came at midnight, in front of my business, to steal our plants. I didn’t know it was the burglars’ new business,” says Peter AbdAlla, a real estate agent from Laval, with humor.

It was last week that he had two plants stolen, worth about $100. He had just bought them, two days earlier.

“I didn’t file a complaint with the police, it’s not worth it. They have better things to do. […] I put the video on Facebook hoping someone could identify it. We see that the person is well dressed and has a nice car and more, it’s just silly,” notes Mr. AbdAlla, still perplexed.

Valuable bonsai

The newspaper received dozens of testimonials from residents and merchants, from across the province, whose plants disappeared in this way.

Daniel Sirard has still not mourned the bonsai he lost this month, the value of which amounted to nearly a thousand dollars.

“I put them outside for two hours. When I wanted to bring them in, they had disappeared. I’ve had them for 11 years and I lose that in minutes. […] I don’t know if it’s the shortage and the fact that we lack everything, but that doesn’t excuse them, ”laments this resident of Trois-Rivières.

“Completely ridiculous”

Marie Poulin, who had her fern stolen in the Capitale-Nationale, says she was insulted when someone stole her plant worth barely $15 in front of her front door.

“I ended up laughing about it because it’s completely ridiculous as theft,” she says. […] It starts with a plant, but then it could have been bicycles, children, etc.

At the Fuzion Zen restaurant on boulevard Sainte-Rose, in Laval, owner Ann Quenneville confides that she is the victim every year of thieves who steal her flowers and plants.

“We have surveillance cameras and we see people stealing. Go see the police department to tell them that flowers have been stolen, I think they have a lot of other fish to fry… Little anecdote: even when we put Christmas decorations in the same outer bands, these same people also allow themselves to steal them”, denounces M^me Quenneville.

Solutions

Expert Larry Hodgson, who is nicknamed “the lazy gardener”, explains to the Log that he himself is a victim of these criminals every summer.

“The best tip you can give people is obviously to buy very heavy flower pots to discourage thieves from leaving with them. You can also buy large plants that are difficult to uproot,” suggests the Quebec resident.

The gardener especially advises Quebecers to have a dog. “There’s nothing better than barking to scare away burglars,” he suggests with a chuckle.

HOW TO AVOID THE THEFT OF YOUR PLANTS?

1. Grow large plants in the ground, which are difficult to uproot.
2. Plant your plants in very heavy and difficult to transport pots.
3. Place showy or very valuable plants out of sight.
4. Tie the plant pots with chains or cables.
5. Adopt a yapping dog that scares away the bad guys.
6. Install a motion-detecting camera or device at night.
7. Fence your land.
8. Install messages to deter petty criminals. Example: Beware of the dog!

^{Source: Larry Hodgson, The Laidback Gardener}