Malcolm Ogilvie10/12/03 6:34


In article , Janet Tweedy
writes
In article , Sacha
writes

And yes, I'd forgotten Guy
tends to disappear with his secateurs and plastic bags. ;-0


Well I'm afraid that's what friends are used to me doing! Never go
round a garden without a plastic bag and secateurs, though I have never
taken anything without the permission of the garden's owner! I usually
return later in the year and bring them a rooted cutting or two so we
all win in the end

When my parents opened their garden to the public as part of the
National Gardens Scheme, they accepted that at the end of each day their
shrubs and plants would have been pruned for them......:-)

I've quoted this before on agr but for the sake of newcomers, I'll quote it
again. This is from the late, great Percy Thrower. Someone asked him when
one should take cuttings and his answer was "when the owner isn't looking".
;-)
Raymond also told me the story of a lady who owned a nursery not far from
here and although she was small, she was fiery. A member of her staff told
her that while they'd watched a customer picking up plants and placing them
in a trolley, they'd also noticed her nicking a cutting or 10, here and
there. So - when said customer came to pay for the visible plants (with
cuttings hidden in her bag) the formidable lady said "That's X for the
plants and we'll say £5 for the cuttings". ;-)
Ray had a truly hilarious moment or two in The Abbey Gardens, Tresco a year
or two ago. The curator of the Gardens, Mike Nelhams, is a friend and he
had given Ray permission to take whatever cuttings he chose. He'd even
provided a pair of secateurs and offered a trowel but we felt the latter was
a step too far! So - Raymond did his 'cuttings tour' of the gardens and
had two amusing encounters: one woman said to him "Are you allowed to do
that? Do you work here?" Raymond's reply was "I've been working here for
at least the last hour". The second needed no reply - a chap sidled up to
him as Ray was taking a cutting of something-lovely-and-precious and said
"I've had a couple of bits off those, too". ;-)
IOW, nothing and nowhere is sacred!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the 'x' to email me)