Leaf it alone: Croydon South lanscaper’s spiky plan to combat plant theft

A green thumb from Melbourne’s east is fighting back after native plants were pilfered from front yards in his street. Check out his spiky solution.

A Croydon South resident has planned a prickly solution after a serial plant thief targeted front yards in his street.

Landscaper Justin Harris had several native plants including banksias and proteas stolen from his front yard last week.

“They came out at 4.30am on a freezing cold morning and dug the plants up out of my garden,” he said.

“They targeted specific species, dug them up and put them in a plastic bag.

The theft was captured on Mr Harris’s CCTV cameras in his front yard. Picture: Justin Harris

“It’s not the value of the plants but it is the time and effort I have put into my garden.”

Mr Harris caught the thief on his CCTV camera footage.

“It makes your lose a bit of faith in the community,” he said.

The thief left dirt piles and holes in his garden. Picture: Justin Harris

“I will be replacing the stolen plants with spiky plants that will make it a bit more uncomfortable to collect.

“I am going to upgrade my cameras too.”

Several of Mr Harris’s neighbours have also had their native plants ripped up from their garden.

“It almost looks likely they have checked out the whole street and planned what they wanted to take,” Mr Harris said.

A police spokesman said the theft of front yard plants was a crime and could be reported to police.