How To Prevent Bonsai Theft

Unfortunately we live in a world full of idiots who think it is okay to steal things. This may not seem like something we need to worry about as growers of little bonsai trees, but sadly it is.

I feel like the reports of stolen bonsai are on the rise and the problem has even hit some high profile bonsai growers in recent years, such as Bonsai Mirai, The Pacific Bonsai Museum and Eastern Leaf Bonsai as well as many more.

Do Bonsai Get Stolen?

Yes, people actually do steal bonsai trees.

Some of you might not be aware of the problem, but sadly people do steal plants from gardens and they also steal bonsai trees. It happens all over the world. It is not super common, but it does happen.

Sometimes it’s the high end and expensive bonsai trees, sometimes it’s not. I had someone take a bunch of little starter trees and cuttings that I had been growing as pre-bonsai.

They had literally zero financial worth but someone still lifted them and walked off, so you can start to understand why higher value trees can really be at risk and why the potential theft of your bonsai is something you need to be aware of and try to prevent.

Asking My Subscribers About Bonsai Theft

I asked my Youtube subscribers if they had ever had a tree stolen and this was the result:

As you can see, 6% said Yes, which shows it is quite rare, but it still happens.

I did put the “I am the one who steals” option as a bit of a joke, thinking no would would admit to it. I hope the 13% who did select that where also just joking, or maybe thinking about digging up yamadori without asking the land owner or something.

I would be very upset if this 13% where genuinely walking into peoples gardens and lifting potted up trees. Either way, the majority of people said they had not suffered a theft, which we have to see as a positive.

How Are Bonsai Trees Stolen?

There are two main types of thefts of bonsai that we need to be aware of, which are opportunistic and targetted:

Opportunistic Theft

This is literally when someone just happens to see your bonsai tree and grabs it there and then.

They have no real plan. They have no real idea of the exact value or worth of the tree and they have no idea how to care it properly too.

They are likely to think it looks good and therefore be worth money if they can sell it on quickly. This is quite easy to protect your bonsai from this type of theft with the advice I will go through below.

Targeted Theft

This is when someone knows what bonsai you have and they make an effort to steal it.

They will probably know its worth and probably have a plan of what they will do with it once they have it.

I’d imagine most times they have a buyer lined up and are stealing the bonsai to order. This means your tree is probably going to disappear into a private bonsai collection rather quickly and may never been seen again.

This kind of theft can sometimes be slightly harder to prevent, but with some care you still can. 

How To Prevent Your Bonsai From Being Stolen

While you will never be able to 100% prevent your bonsai from being stolen, the following steps can reduce the chances of theft.

Position Your Bonsai Out Of Sight

This one is fairly simple. Keep your trees in position that is out of sight from the main road. Even if your bonsai is not expensive, treat it like it is.

You wouldn’t leave a high value item on show or just sat out the front of your house all night, so don’t do this with your bonsai.

Even if your trees are small and pathetic, like a lot of mine are, people will still take interest and their greed will take over. “no one is going to miss this” is what they will tell themselves as they lift it …but you will miss it, so keep it out of sight and around the back of your house or just out of view of passing people.

If you want to be extra careful, try and keep your best bonsai trees out of view from your neighbours. I know this can be hard in some gardens, but the less they know the better.

I know that is kind of harsh sounding as I’m sure your neighbours are great, but if you have expensive bonsai trees, its best to not let them know exactly what you have going on in your garden.

Fences/Gates Can protect Your Bonsai

Not only should you keep your bonsai trees out of sight, but you should have adequate fencing and gates around your trees.

This is more likely to prevent opportunistic thefts as no one really wants to climb over a fence with a tree.  (Although I have seen CCTV of bosnai being throwing over fences, so it’s more a deterrent than a definite way to stop the problem).

You should also make sure that these gates are locked at night. Don’t make it easy for them. Again, just treat your bonsai trees like they are something expensive.

Be Careful What You Put On Social Media About Your Bonsai

Posting Bonsai on social media is fine but, but be careful. Just think about what else you are posting and who to.

If you are on your personal account and posting pictures of your life, such as your local area, your front garden and your car etc  … and then you start posting pics of your new bonsai tree, along with the price tag… people can work out where you live and they can work out where this expensive tree is.

It doesn’t take much effort to work these things out especially if you have plenty of other pictures of your life for people to start investigating. Just always be careful what you post on your personal social media accounts.

If you make an account that is only for your bonsai trees, and then you take all your pictures against a white background… it’s a bit harder to pin point where you live exactly.

I know it’s very over the top but the old saying remains true “loose lips sink ships”

If you are going to be a victim of a targeted bonsai theft, it will be from social media. That doesn’t mean it will be one of your followers, but you never really know who is watching and plotting.

Be Careful What You Tell People About Your Bonsai

The advice same goes for real life as social media, just be careful what you say to people.

Don’t be telling everyone you just spent big money on a new epic Japanese maple bonsai. You never know who is listening.

I would also be very careful who you allow into your garden. It’s easy to meet people in local bonsai groups and 99.999999% of people are wonderful, but just be careful about who you invite round.

Make sure you can sound them out before blindly inviting them over to look at your trees.

Don’t Advertise That You Are Away On Holiday

This is classic anti-burglary advice, but it works for bonsai too. Don’t tell people/posting online that you are away for two weeks. You are just asking for someone to pop round to your garden and take their pick of your bonsai while you are away.

Other Anti-Burglary Techniques to Protect Bonsai

These can be helpful tips to keep your house safe, but they also work to protect your bonsai trees. Don’t think you need all of these, but it is good to be aware of the options.

CCTV

This isn’t going to stop anything, but at least you will have it on film and it can help identify people.

It is easy to hide your face, but you will be surprised how many thieves don’t bother. If you can get CCTV that works in the dark, this can be quite useful as people are less likely to cover their face in the dark.

Just make sure it is out of reach so they can’t break it and also make sure there is a sign saying the area is covered, as that can sometimes be enough to put someone off.

You should also make sure you have good coverage of your property. Blind spots can really screw you over so it can be better to ask a professional to install the cameras and make sure you have good everything pointed in the right direction, with good angle of your garden and your bonsai.

Motion Sensor Lights

I’m 50/50 on this. It is classic crime prevention advice. However, I have spoke to plenty of career burglars who love it. They have told me it makes their life way easier as they can see what they are doing and they know all the neighbours will be used to the light and just assume it’s a cat.

I think it will scare off an amateur, but anyone used to stealing isn’t going to be too worried about lights.

Gravel

Gravel can be a good deterrent as it makes that awful sound and you can’t get anywhere near your bonsai trees without making noise. This can be enough to put people off trying, but if you’re not home or you a heavy sleeper, or even have thick windows, it doesn’t really stop much.  

Guard Dog

Let’s be real most people have friendly dogs, but if you can get a loud barker, it might be enough to scare someone away from your bonsai trees.

Obviously getting a dog to protect your trees is pretty extreme, but I am sure some people do this, so maybe it’s not too crazy. 

Wire Bonsai Trees To Benches So They Can’t Be Stolen

A common trick to stop wind from blowing bonsai trees off benches is to wire them down to the bench.

This can also slow down, if not stop a wannabe theft as they can’t lift the pots up easily in the middle of the night.

I’m sure with enough force they could probably pull them off, but it also might just be enough to stop them and make them give up as they would need to use a lot of force and it may make a lot of noise.

Take Pictures Of Your Bonsai

You should be doing this anyway to track the progress of your bonsai trees development, but it is also very good if you do become a victim of theft.

You can firstly show the police what has been taken and prove you have a bonsai missing, but more importantly you can spam it out on social media both in the bonsai world and the local area to make people aware that the tree might suddenly come up for sale and that its stolen.

If people can see the picture, they will know instantly if it’s your bonsai that is being offered for sale and alert you to where it is.

Micro Chipping Your Bonsai

I was at the Heathrow bonsai show one year and seen a company called “Bon-Tag” displaying their product.

I didn’t quite understand it at the time and though it was a tag you tied to your bonsai tree, which I thought was useless as you could just take that off.

Clearly I am stupid. The tag was just to tell people that the bonsai tree had been micro chipped, and therefore wasn’t worth stealing.

The system actually works by drilling a little hole into the tree and injecting a chip the size of a grain of rice into the hole. As the tree heals, the chip becomes trapped inside. Meaning it can’t be seen or removed.

You then just need to scan the bonsai with a special microchip reader and it will flash up that it’s owned by you. It’s like how they microchip pets.

I think the technology only works if you scan the tree, I don’t think you can track it and then hunt it down like a lost phone.

If your bonsai is taken by in a targeted raid and brought to a private collection, you will probably never see the tree again to scan it. However, the second it appears on the open market you can scan it and prove you are the real owner.

It’s not perfect, but it sounds like a pretty good system. I’ve not used it, but it is something I would maybe consider.

(You can look at their site for more information – www.bon-tag.com/)

Conclusion

An easy way round all of this is to just own indoor bonsai trees, but then I imagine they would just get stolen too.

Anyway, the risk is real and it is something you should think about. I know this article reads like everyone is out to steal your bonsai trees and it might make you want to hire some armed guards and position them around the garden, just to protect your one Chinese elm bonsai from Amazon.

However, I would rather you were aware of what can happen and think about how you can prevent it, rather than wake up one day to find your bonsai trees gone.

Most of the advice here is simple and is just basically “be careful”. If you do this you should be fine and you won’t be targeted and you can enjoy your trees happily ever after.