"Stealing" cuttings from a grocery store parking lot...

[Eric Group]

So... I was driving around today and noticed a few lacebark Chinese Elms scattered around landscapes in my area. I have an Elm deficiency currently and have been trying to find a good one, or two, or three... To replace a large one that was lost a few years back (some bandit stole the pot it was in and just dumped my tree out on the ground about two summers ago, by the time I found the poor tree it was too late. so, when I was asked to go to the grocery tonight to get some veggies for dinner, I decided to take a cup of water and my shears "just in case"- ok, truth be told I had planned to drive a few extra miles out of my way to the gas station where I first say the Elms this morning...- lucky for me the Publix I went to had THREE of them in it's parking lot! One just happen to be located right beside a stop sign I came upon, which gave me an opportunity to clip a little branch off (as the patrons behind me "patiently" waited)! I got about 12-13 inches and made three separate cuttings from it. I let them soak in the water til I got home, dipped in rooting hormone and dropped them in a pot! Elms tend to root easy, and we have mild, late starting winters around here so I hope they make it (if not, I know where to go in the Spring!!)...

Anybody else prone to risking their freedom to steal cuttings/ seeds from unauthorized locations?

 

[Dirty Nails]

Stickin' it to the man! Nice! Did you hum the Mission Impossible theme during your caper?

 

[Eric Group]

Stickin' it to the man! Nice! Did you hum the Mission Impossible theme during your caper?

Yeah, it would have been way better if I was repelling from a helicopter or something when I made the cut... Maybe Tom cruise's next big action flick will be about Bonsai!

 

[Dirty Nails]

I guess I am an old guy. I still think of Mission Impossible being Peter Graves and Leonard Nemoy.

 

[edprocoat]

I guess I am an old guy. I still think of Mission Impossible being Peter Graves and Leonard Nemoy.

What ? , you mean there was another one...


ed

 

[coppice]

I've been picking crab apples for seed from Wally-werld parking lot trees for years.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Anybody else prone to risking their freedom to steal cuttings/ seeds from unauthorized locations?

Since you asked...the answer is no. Stealing (your word) is wrong and we shouldn't do it for any reason, the least of which is to preserve legit opportunities for all of us.

It would take 3 minutes to obtain permission from the manager...usually their name and photo is posted right inside the door, and it's unlikely the would care at all...but asking makes all the difference.

 

[Eric Group]

Since you asked...the answer is no. Stealing (your word) is wrong and we shouldn't do it for any reason, the least of which is to preserve legit opportunities for all of us.

It would take 3 minutes to obtain permission from the manager...usually their name and photo is posted right inside the door, and it's unlikely the would care at all...but asking makes all the difference.

Well alrighty then... I was being sarcastic there Brian, if I was say taking a whole plant, cutting something back in a way that affected it's shape noticeably or anything that I thought might actually be an issue or be noticed- yeah I would ask permission. If I walk/ drive bye a tree and grab a seen off it or clip a couple inches from a low hanging branch, I don't really consider that to be an offense worthy of law enforcement involvement and I know nobody will care. Maybe I am wrong and the police will come pick me up tomorrow, but I do not consider taking a couple inches from an Elm tree at the back of their parking lot to be something the manager would even want to be bothered about... Besides that, it is a shared parking lot with about 15-20 other stores in it and I wouldn't know who to ask!

 

[Lazylightningny]

Theres a beautiful hawthorne in front of a fancy apt bld in manhattan ive had my eye on. Ive been thinking of asking the doorman if i could take a cutting. Not sure how hawthornes root. This is not a place i would dare take an unauthorized cutting from since there are doormen and maint people all over the place, not to mention cameras. The thing you have to be cautious about are the cameras. They are everywhere these days and covert ops in a seemingly deserted parking lot could end up being caught on camera. Be careful out there.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I didn't do it but I thought about air layering a ginkgo at a local hospital. It's lovely. Lol

 

[berobinson82]

A crime with no victim in my opinion.

 

[GrimLore]

If I am really interested in something located in a shopping center I find out who the property manager is. One quick call and I have the landscapers number. I have done it once in NY and once here in PA. I arrange to meet the guys while they are doing maintenance and both times they were generous and the property manager just "assumes" I want the number to commission them for work...

 

[fourteener]

If you took off bad branches, like ones that cross from one side of the tree to the other, you'd actually be doing them a favor. The only problem I see is that some varieties are protected through patents and propagating them is illegal. The generic tree planted in a shopping center probably never falls into that category.