Flower girl depleting my bush

[TeaGinandFags]

I feel that I'm being mean but I also want her to stop.

My lovely neighbour has an adorable little girl who's been picking roses off my bush for her teacher. She does this every day.

The bush is a mature Alida Lovett, so clusters of pale pink fragrant single layer flowers. It is a large plant and smells and looks bloody amazing.

While I would never bedrudge a bloom or two to others, especially a long suffering educator, I think that every day is a bit much.

YABU don't be so stingy. She's only small and her teacher deserves appreciation

YANBU once or twice is fine, but not all the time. Offer the school some cuttings instead.

She starts by plucking flowers and moves to growing weed in her bedroom by the time she's 12.

Do they clone rose bushes now? Colour me impressed.

I think I saw that exact storyline on Rosemary & Thyme

The little girl is obviously a homeless Victorian child. She isn’t giving them to her teacher, that’s just a cover to make people like her. She’s tying them into small bunches with bits of potato sack as ribbon and selling them down at the old flower market at Covent Garden. Her sister sells bird feed in Trafalgar square. Hopefully they will make enough for some soup.

This is a really good way of putting it. Then it puts the emphasis on the bees needing the flowers to remain, not you.

This. This DC needs to learn not to take things that don't belong to her.

I mean I think the emphasis needs to be on not taking stuff from other people’s gardens.

I wouldn't be giving her a cutting, or a plant of her own or anything other than a polite and firm 'stop taking my roses!'

That would make me so angry. You definitely need to be out there next time she goes to do it

You're not stingy at all!!! This is unacceptable behaviour and it needs to stop now.

I'd be furious about this. Growing and maintaining nice plants is bloody hard work and they are allowing their little darling to steal from you.

YANBU - that would really piss me off. You need to tell her parents to ask her to stop. Like fuck would I be tolerating anyone yanking flowers off my flower bushes for ANYone. Go and buy some from the shops!

Provocative title. Nobody wants a depleted bush.

😁
tho depleting a bush gives a neater appearance.

I like the idea to give her a cutting so the girl has her own plant.
Anyway, with cutting or without I would tell them to stop.

Does your bush hang over the neighbours property?
It's one thing if she's plucking your bush when it's in her face, so to speak, and another is she's having to go out of her way and stretch to find the bud.

This

Roses. Gateway drug. It's the thorns, get used to those and hypodermics hold no fear.

I would never let my daughter pick From someone else's garden. Is the mum there when she's doing it?
You could just hang a nice sign saying "please leave the flowers for the bees and butterflies and don't pick them"

Dig the bush up, and re-plant it round the back.

I was also going to suggest a cutting. It's a great time to take a few softwood cuttings. I'd do so even if it's an insurance against next year.

But I also agree that unless she is snipping these roses off, she may introduce disease or die back via a broken stem so I'd be tempted to take a cutting round to her parents and tell them you sadly have to ask her to stop picking roses in case she damages the plant but you brought her a cutting of her own so she can grow one.

Then, if you see her again you can - guilt free - say the roses are lovely but she mustn't pick any more.

Just googled Alida Lovett roses and they are gorgeous!

The parents have put you in such an awkward position. I can imagine happily saying yes to a one off request, but it is a bit much for them to let the little girl help herself each day. If there are loads of blooms maybe they think it doesn't make any difference, but it is bloody cheeky.

After your generosity, and patience with them taking the piss, you now have to appear to be the curmudgeonly one when all you want them to do is act with a bit of normal courtesy.

Out of curiosity, how are the getting the roses? Scissors, secateurs, snapping them off?

Does she have fingers made of sharp steel?

It is quite hard for a child to actually pick a rose, I need secateurs and I'm in my 50s.

Oh no Op!

No one wants to see a depleted bush.

Yeh, sod the bees and butterflies and all those people who are happy to just look at the flowers just pick everything cos it'll all die eventually anyway. 🙄