A Handbook for Guerrilla Gardening
by Bonnie Alter, London on 04.28.08
Guerrilla gardening—making vacant, neglected public lands green and flower-filled—is becoming almost mainstream. So much so that the number one English practitioner has a how-to book coming out. Richard Reynolds, with his co-conspirators, has been making bleak corners of London flower since 2004. Now he is telling-all including topics such as: use of colour, what’s a seed bomb, what to plant, and how to deal with vandals.
The use of bright colours in the planting is key: “shock and awe” is the way to get a big bang. Daffodils and tulips return year after year. Canna lilies are very striking with their pink, yellow and orange brightly coloured flowers. Primroses (this is England after all) make nice spots of colour, in blinding colours and have a long flowering period. Incongruity: plant something large and outrageous which will really stand-out. Sunflowers grow to 15 feet in dry soil. Christmas trees are hardy and look green all year. Fragrance: lavender and sage have lovely purple flowers and are sweet smelling. Mock orange is a tall, fragrant shrub that survives in poor soil. And then there are seed bombs….
Scattering seeds is the easiest way to guerrilla garden—just throw them in and some will live and flourish, others won’t. You can even do it while driving. However, they do need to land in favourable growing conditions. Throwing dry seeds onto a mound of garbage won’t work. The answer: seed bombs. Usually they are made of seeds, compost and a bit of water in a biodegradable container. One dedicated “cell” of guerrillas stuffed the mix into empty egg shells. These self-contained little missiles which are packaged like grenades can be fired (thrown, really) into inaccessible places.
Dealing with vandals: If you cannot face battling the idiots who vandalise the gardens, then make yours less showy. It is the dramatic and exotic plants that draw attention. Or plant them in large clumps so that the loss of one doesn’t stand out so clearly. :: On Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gardening Without Boundaries Via :: Guardian
Fantastic idea! Living in Detroit, there are countless vacant lots and decaying sites that could really benefit from this type of "warfare" rather than the violent type...now to get a group together...hmmm
This is a great idea.
So much city land is little more than eyesore material, these days. That said, so that looks like nothing but scrub can be home to a vast assortment of wildlife.
My local town council has just decided to rid us of a lot of 'waste' land that they themselves had cultivated with shrubs and trees only a few years back. They've cut everything down, planted a couple of bushes, and covered all the ground in chippings so nothing can grow and there's no shelter for anything to live. I used to see foxes, voles, and other wildlife in the area - guess it's goodbye to all that. In an age when we are supposed to be so concerned about conservation, it's verging on the criminal that a council can destroy habitat like this. I wouldn't mind, but the areas weren't overgrown and wild, but relatively well tended. Such a waste of money and conservation efforts.
I hope the book recommends using plants suitable to the locale in which they'll grow so will support local wildlife. On the whole, though, a great idea.
Steve N. Lee
author of eco-blog http://www.lionsledbysheep.com
and eco-suspense thriller 'What if...?'
I discovered guerrilla gardening last year when I began chucking things around town. My missiles were the small extra tomatoes from my garden which didn't make it into our salads. I did drive by tomato launches with the goal of promoting their growth in the forgotten corners of my town. This year I will explore to see if any took.
I discovered guerrilla gardening last year when I began chucking things around town. My missiles were the small extra tomatoes from my garden which didn't make it into our salads. I did drive by tomato launches with the goal of promoting their growth in the forgotten corners of my town. This year I will explore to see if any took.
I loved Judy K's tomato bombs - great idea !
My brother had a large lawn, shaded by large
Horse Chestnut trees which rather discouraged
the growth of the lawn. He got a quantity of
sludge ( then it was FREE ) from the town
sewage people and smeared the lawn generously
with it. The next year he was much surprised
by the number of tomato plants which popped up -
those seed survive the winter nicely ! The grass
grew nicely, too, as a bonus....
It's sad we don't get to see the results after the seedbombs have "exploded".
I would like to know if it's really worth it or if most bombs stay undetonated and useless. Or do you get craters of flowers?