My garden’s quite bare and I quite fancy a couple of trees, maybe a Rowan or 2. There’s a large woodland area in my local vicinity which covers about 4 miles square. There are millions of trees there and I’m sure the woodland wouldn’t be any worse off for 2 less trees. Wadda ya reckon, not so bad or morally indefensible? 🙂

Not just morally but also illegal.

Probably best to raid the local garden centre at night. Then you could fit out the entire garden in one go. Some gnomes too? Maybe a pond? But you’ll need a fast getaway van, so best nick top-end T5 or vito first.
😉

I took a couple of plants from my local woodland and planted them in my garden. They died.

I took a couple of plants from my local woodland and planted them in my garden. They died

…..from shame.

thank you for your story Dez, it was insightful and thrilling. 😐

😀

Not just morally but also illegal.

Special branch may be interested.

Maybe if they are small saplings growing much too close to mature trees..

Definitely illegal.

However, it’s pretty much a victim-less crime.

Sounds like a lot of hard work though.

What size tree were you thinking of nicking?

Yeah, stick it to the law…

It’s the wrong time of year, but the best bet is to wait until around October and collect self-seeded yearlings.

Might not be technically legal, but if you use your common sense and take ones that are in a bad position, there’s no harm in it.

If you’re going to start digging up half-standards, A, you’ll need to know what you’re doing, and B, it’s not strictly cricket!

lol. probably no taller than my waist. I’m about 6ft tall.
Was thinking now would be ideal before the growing season properly gets going.

My entire garden is made up of collected wild species, pretty much all grown from seed or cuttings. The local wildlife seem to approve.

Taking a whole plant is a bit of a dick move, unless you can find some end of year saplings in bad spots that might enjoy a better life elsewhere!

Gateway crime, next stop, the moon!

I’m sure if you asked the owner of said wood regards saplings, they’d not mind.

There are loads of uprooted trees on the Chase after storm Doris. Help the FC by removing them *cough*

Why not make it a fruit tree – you’d have to pay probably though.

My entire garden is made up of collected wild species, pretty much all grown from seed or cuttings. The local wildlife seem to approve.

+1

I’ve got a tray of Italian Cyprus seedlings that are just poking through this week after over-wintering in the fridge. I pinched the pinecone off a stunning Cyprus at an stately home on Lake Como last year…

I love my plants/tree to have a back story! 🙂

Mock my grief whydon’tcha.

“Might not be technically legal . . “

You’re right – it might not.

If anyone cedars you doing that yew’ll be in trouble and you’ll be pining for your freedom….

IGMC

So, in summary:
.Not too bad morally if you take one that is close to another large tree or is likely to perish.
.Other people have done it and condone it.
.Stolen vegetation may have an early demise.

Right! *dons balaclava*

I remember as a child, my parents ‘rehoming’ a sapling from the side of the forest drive near Levisham in the Moors. Think that died too… I wish I had too from the shame of having criminal parents.

“Might not be technically legal . . “

jon1973 – Member
Special branch may be interested.

They’ll get to the root of it, I’m sure.

There are millions of trees there and I’m sure the woodland wouldn’t be any worse off for 2 less fewer trees

FTFY 😉

And yes, it would be worse off

They’ll get to the root of it, I’m sure.

Cut it out!

Seriously.
They’ll leaf no stone unturned.

They’ll get to the root of it, I’m sure.

They’ll twig on if you do it too often, plus there’s bound to be a grass nearby.

True, he’s bound to end up in lumber.

I took home a rather sad looking silver birch from alongside a local footpath, it was growing from a slope with the taproot sticking out sideways and the sapling in danger of just falling over and breaking off.
The tree is now about twenty foot tall, having had some of the top trimmed out, with a trunk about a foot across.
There are loads of ash around, they self-seed like weeds, so one or two of those, or last year’s rowan seedlings potted until they get a bit bigger should be ok.
Carefully cutting a new soft growth twig and getting it to root would be worthwhile, I’ve got a hawthorn cutting in a glass of water waiting to be potted to see if I can get it to grow, to fill up a space formerly occupied by a really scraggy elder.
Hopefully, if it takes it’ll fill the space nicely, it won’t spread suckers like blackthorn, it’ll make a nice early display of blossom and berries for the birds in the winter, plus extra cover for birds to possibly nest in.

My neighbour a few years ago had his front lawn re-turfed and yes, someone in the middle of the night nicked three random rows from the middle of his lawn?

We have lost complete plant pots, someone local we think has sticky, not green fingers 😉

The copse will log it as a crime and whittle down the suspects until you’re in the dock

They won’t rest on their laurels, that’s for sure.

Speak to the rangers in your local country park. The guy I know is trying to encourage a more diverse spread of trees in his woodland. We pulled and dug up about fifty Beech saplings that had self seeded. Be sure to wrap them immediately in a polythene bag

Somebody will grass you up

Where are you Jekkyl

I have thousands. You are welcome to a couple if it will stop you having to potentially do time at Her Magestys’ Pleasure

Don’t listen to all this namby pamby ‘just take an unwanted sapling’ stuff. Get yourself one of these and get down the local arboretum. Life’s too short to watch trees grow.

If you’re going to commit a crime go big or go home.

More seriously, careful with tree disease areas. Don’t go digging up something in an ash dieback area and plant it somewhere that doesn’t, for example. Same advice goes to bike riding in such areas and then not washing the bike then riding it somewhere else.

Bring back the birch for this type of thing