I don’t enjoy talking bad about people but some people just really upset me.

There are those that will visit Lowe’s, The Home Depot or even a nursery and they will help themselves to seed heads or cuttings of the plants in the nursery section. While this may seem like an innocent thing to do, it is illegal and it is theft as well as vandalism.

While deadheading is a practice that is necessary in some cases to coninue promoting new growth and flowers, these plants are there to be sold as a whole. So if you come in and take the seed head, you are not buying the plant, which is loss of revenue to the store. Not only that, the seeds may potentially give you thirty of those plants, so that is revenue of a lot in that case. If everyone did this we would only see mediocre skinny sticks in the nursery, and not actual plants.

The practice of taking cuttings or seeds without permission is actually plant theft, and it does not matter if you took the seeds, the cutting, or the entire plant. Not to mention, you could be introducing diseases to that plant because you are wounding the plant. Afterwards, the plant as it was is no longer and considered damaged, and it could be considered vandalized, even if you deadheaded. Don’t do this! If anything, buy the entire plants you want and then when you get home take all the cuttings you need instead so you have more plants. That is your prerogative – after you buy it.

Likewise, If you see a flower, fruit, or seeds in someone‘s yard, you should ask for permission. Just taking there too is theft. Personally, while I am more than happy to share seeds with you, i would be pissed if someone just came into my yard and took cuttings and seed heads.

Finally, even if you bought the plant, and even if you bought seeds, check if there are patents, because if a patent exists, it is technically illegal for you to collect and replant these seeds or propagate the plant from cuttings. I say technically because the only time you can really get trouble is if you were to try and sell the seeds or cuttings.

Plant breeders and nurseries spend a lot of money on breeding and upkeep of their plants. So unique plants that are created by a breeder are set at a certain price to recoup cost of producing that particular plant. If one then goes around and starts selling this cutting at a fraction or even more than the original plant, then you are cutting into that breeder’s business. You would in this case be breaking patent laws.

Regardless of the situation…please just ask permission and respect tbis. No is no and you can always buy the whole plant instead.

The article from The Guardian is a good example of how plant theft impacts growers and nurseries.