Hawthorn Bush / Tree

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I have some unruly skateboarders that come to my business on the weekends and jump from the sidewalk out to the parking lot. It's an elevation change of about 4 feet and there's a landscape terrace from the edge of the sidewalk about 6 feet till you hit the parking lot. I had some no skateboarding sign at that point, but they used landscaping stone to knock that down and steal it. Short of spending alot of money on security cameras, I thought I'd put a 10 foot tall Hawthorn bush there. A local nursery has one, but I'm not sure if I just plant it how easy it will be to rip out of the ground? I don't want to spend upwards of $200 if they're going to knock it over, drag it out, or kill the thing.

Any thoughts on this solution? It has nice thorns. Kids today have zero respect for private property.
 
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My neighbor planted a bunch of Rosa Rugosa aka beach rose in front of his house. They love crap sandy soil, edges of roads and parking lots. The roses smell great and I dare anyone to penetrate a thicket of them. They are loaded with thorns.
 
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Multiflora Rose. Ask any midwestern farmer what he thinks of those. ;) Dad helped one of his brother in laws plant (with government subsidies) some of the stuff back in the late 50's or so,20 some years later my Uncle was grubbing the damn stuff out. ;lol

A very small amount of it scattered through the timber at parents acreage,a few larger bushes in open grassy area near where old garden used to be that I'll grub out this fall.I dont mind a little of it,the flowers look & smell good.But it'll quickly take over whole fields if not controlled.
 
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I think any newly planted tree/shrub will be pretty easy to pull out for a year or so. Probably vastly easier than stealing a no skateboarding sign.. The idea of planting something with thorns is probably a good idea to deter vandals. Or put a camera on it and take the evidence to the police(or just put a sign up saying they're being recording and any criminal activity be reported).

Being a fully grown relatively well adjusted adult, I have to mention I was once a punk skateboarder kid. Right or wrong I would have seen a no skateboarding sign as a challenge rather than a warning. I grew up in a city with very little green spaces, so skateboarding was one of the few athletic activities you could do. All the good places to skate of course had "no skateboarding" signs, which we read as "great skateboarding spot right here!!". This was also before skate parks became common, so office/retail parks were really the only option.

Of course at that age I had no understanding of the insurance liabilities, or the challenges of property ownership. Not defending the jerks, but punk kids are hardly a new situation. The best way to stop skateboarding is passive means, ie find ways of making the location less appealing. My office has long stretches of polished granite planters, which would be amazing for grinding on skateboards, but they put raised metal breaks in between each slab, which makes it useless for skating. They're might be relatively cheap ways to make the spot less fun for skaters(if you want to post a pic I'm happy to give some ideas).

Or you could always put offer to put a no skateboarding sign up at one of your competitors free of charge, they'll all move over there within a week ;-)
 
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I think any newly planted tree/shrub will be pretty easy to pull out for a year or so. Probably vastly easier than stealing a no skateboarding sign.. The idea of planting something with thorns is probably a good idea to deter vandals. Or put a camera on it and take the evidence to the police(or just put a sign up saying they're being recording and any criminal activity be reported).

Being a fully grown relatively well adjusted adult, I have to mention I was once a punk skateboarder kid. Right or wrong I would have seen a no skateboarding sign as a challenge rather than a warning. I grew up in a city with very little green spaces, so skateboarding was one of the few athletic activities you could do. All the good places to skate of course had "no skateboarding" signs, which we read as "great skateboarding spot right here!!". This was also before skate parks became common, so office/retail parks were really the only option.

Of course at that age I had no understanding of the insurance liabilities, or the challenges of property ownership. Not defending the jerks, but punk kids are hardly a new situation. The best way to stop skateboarding is passive means, ie find ways of making the location less appealing. My office has long stretches of polished granite planters, which would be amazing for grinding on skateboards, but they put raised metal breaks in between each slab, which makes it useless for skating. They're might be relatively cheap ways to make the spot less fun for skaters(if you want to post a pic I'm happy to give some ideas).

Or you could always put offer to put a no skateboarding sign up at one of your competitors free of charge, they'll all move over there within a week ;-)

I'm obviously generalizing, however, I find just as I did when I was that age, that the skateboarders tend to be more rebellious...some of which were crossing over into the misfit ranks. Another solution would be a 4+ foot tall hand rail wrapped around the corner would work well as would a tree. If I could make it past the fall with a tree standing, the roots will take by next spring.

At this point, they and I are in a game. They drew blood when they stole from me. I intend to capture them on video and to turn it over to the police. They have been warned enough times. In the coming weeks, I'm going to work at the office one weekend with just the natural light coming from the windows and vehicles parked around the corner. I'm going to put up new signs and bait them in. Then, once I have them on video taking down the signs and hopefully putting them in their trunks, that's when I'll call the police and press charges in court. Of course, I'd have to go outside and video them and image their license plate. If they're 18, then those charges will stay on their record, but that's the chance you take when you steal. At that point, I'll invest in a full camera security system in case of retaliation. If they come to vandalize, they'll be on tape which will be turned into the police also. I didn't steal like that when I was a kid. And when adults yelled at us, I left them alone.
 
A few hand fulls of gravel, Skateboard wheels really don't like gravel!

And you KNOW the little basturdz aren't gonna take the time to sweep that gravel out of the way. I say gravel (pea size shale, to be exact), and LOTS OF IT until they get the hint....;)
 
half circle sprinkler head on a motion detector, pressurized tank filled with red dye
worked for me, never had another problem...................
 
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half circle sprinkler head on a motion detector, pressurized tank filled with red dye
worked for me, never had another problem...................
Love it. You wouldn't have surveillance video to share would you ;)
 
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