This is a problem that I, naiively, had not anticipated when I joined a nearby community garden.

There is no fence to protect the contents of the garden plots. (One was promised by the parks district. But you know how that goes when you're dealing with city government.) And now that the flowers in my butterfly garden are beginning to bloom, people are helping themselves. Two weeks ago somebody actually scooped up my red penta and took off with it!

Does anybody have any suggestions for how to deal with this problem?

Perhaps it would help for me to add that the fence will most likely never show up, and that getting the powers-to-be to take action in general is probably a pipe dream. I'm thinking more in terms of what I myself could do with my individual plot. ...Maybe a relatively harmless itching powder sprinkled on the blooms??? Sorry if that sounds sadistic but I'm desperate! :o(

I would suggest finding another resource for your fencing. Ornamental fences might be an attractive ask from a community foundation or arts oriented foundation. How about a fund raiser in your community garden? An evening in the garden with food and drink, invite celebrity gardeners to a talk,sell raffle tix, combine your resources amoung your fellows.

Other than that, pick your flowers while in bud or make a sign politely suggesting that folks leave your flowers for others to enjoy. Some folks think community gardens mean its for the taking.

Another idea might be to have a group get-together of all fellow gardeners. See if they have any ideas. Also, ask all the gardeners to be the eyes and ears of the garden, don't hesitate to ask strangers when you see them helping themselves. At a Display Garden I work with, even a fence doesn't keep people from sometimes helping themselves-the sign we post reads "Harvesting without permission is theft".A strong message, but it does cut down on the amount of people helping themselves! Good luck!

This is a sad indictement of our world. I was on the Scilly Isles in June. There was a beautiful community garden there and they even left baskets around the garden filled with gardening tools with notices to say if you felt like it feel free to do a spot of weeding!!!!What a difference living on a small island must feel like.
Jean.

If the government won't provide a fence, then the gardeners must have permision to start putting up their own. After all, one large fence around the outside of a whole garden will NOT PROTECT your individual plot. Believe it or not, many community gardeners feal that if you haven't picked your flowers/fruit/vegetables *yet*, then you must not want or *need* them. You will find that theft originates both inside & outside the community garden plots.

It's a slippery slope that many community garders descend. They start to feal that if you are not picking your stuff, then they are helping to avoid *waste* by picking it for you! It's especially easy to justify when it comes to food crops. It's also a problem with items that get harvested late in the fall like pumpkins & gourds. These are items that have ready cash value & are easy to spot in a mostly dead garden. You really nead to both fence them in & hide them with garden debris to avoid theft.

We've found that a five foot tall, wire fence with a locked gate is a good deterent. Obviosly, if people wanted to start using bolt, or wire cutters they could easily cut through the fences, but they haven't so far. I think people need a psychological detterent to keep them from getting greedy!

Other ideas would be to adress waste at a meeting in the spring. Some gardens have rules that fruit & vegetables must be picked, or you must give the garden management permision to pick for you & donate to charities. Also, you might want to have some standards for fencing. I am in a community garden that is about 35 years old ... you wouldn't believe what some people call a fence. I must admit that I still haven't replaced some of the old fencing that I inherited, but I am working on it. Some of the "fences" are made of indoor quality particle boards & various other scraps of plastic & rotting wood & lethal looking bits of wire. Also, unless you rule it out, people can start putting up stockage type picket fences that will totally shade out their neighbors. Best to have a rule that fences should consist of a single layer of wire fencing material & wooden or metal support posts. (Also, be sure to specify no presure treated wood, as it's not aproved for food gardens.)

I am also giving you a link to this Community Gardening organization ... they have other suggestions for reducing theft.

Scroll down the page of the link that I am giving you. Look for the list titled : Troubleshooting. They have more ideas there.

Here is a link that might be useful: American Community Gardens Association: TROUBLESHOOTING

Who knew that the desire to attract a few butterflies could become so complicated? :o)

Well, thanks to all who suggested various forms of "getting organized" and encouraging fellow gardeners to join me in finding a resolution to this problem. But...

The reason I got into gardening is because the flowers don't talk back, have attitudes, or try to play mind games with me.LOL I'm at a place in my life where I've sort of been there and done that with the group organization thing. I don't have the energy or patience at this point to print flyers, make phone calls, go through channels. etc.

I've decided to handle this problem by ignoring it...I'll water and deadhead and nurture until the end of summer. I won't worry about whatever is stolen or vandalized between now and then. And when summer is over, I'll walk away from this garden and I won't look back.

As for next summer, I'm hoping to own some real estate by then. With plenty of space to put out window boxes and containers on my own property.

I did make several suggestions that do not involve "getting organized". If you put up your *own* fence around your own plot, then you do not have to work with other folks or organizations. Also, I posted a link to a website with many suggestions. Most pertain to vegetables, but can be applyed to flowers too. The basic is to plant unusual things that most theives won't find attractive. The other thought with flowers, is to plant only those that have small blossoms. Most theives don't want to be bothered with picking a multitude of tiny blossoms - they would rather pick a nice bouquet of tulips or lillys.

I can't imagine what other advice you were looking for? Other than fences or planting strategys what more is there? Especially if you don't want to be bothered with doing things with other gardeners. If you really intend to just use the garden for a year, then I guess anything goes. But I think the idea with Community Gardening (whether we like it or not), is working with & dealing with our neighbors.

I know how frustrating it is to deal with other people, but it's hard to escape that at most community gardens. It certainly doesn't pay to get irrate about theft ... after all, where I am the animals are the major *theives*. I don't begrudge them, so I try not to get too upset about the two legged theives. It's "always something" with gardeneing.

Good luck. I hope you find your own space.