Have you ever wondered why so much public space seems to go to waste? Even apparently ‘natural’ green areas are carefully cultivated, requiring time, energy and water. However, these only produce a return if people are sitting, interacting, or playing on them. A great deal of urban green space is never used for these purposes. However, such spaces can be (and many are) subverted through guerilla gardening: the act of seeding useful plants in public spaces.
Guerilla gardening, like many forms of guerilla action or communication, is not typically legal unless it is overtly sanctioned by a city. Some guerilla gardeners have been questioned by the authorities, suspected of vandalism or even accused of terrorist activity.
Technically, guerilla gardening is a kind of graffiti or vandalism - just done with plants instead of spray cans. However, the kind of guerilla marketing addressed here, though illegal, rarely gets people into trouble. Other higher-profile types such as moss graffiti and mayday actions have caused conflicts with the law.
For more information on guerilla gardening, see the Wikipedia article on the subject. Also see related guerilla communication articles on unusually legal street art and cleaning urban surfaces as guerilla marketing. Have you done any guerilla gardening? Seen similar ideas in action? Feel free to share below!
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57 Comments
August 21st, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Never thought I’d hear the phrase “guerilla gardening,” but there it is, and it sounds pretty cool! I’d love to see a post about moss graffiti, maybe some examples?
August 21st, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Oh my goodness, guerilla gardening! Who would have thought! I love the concept! Would be a great activity for youth groups…whether about the town or for other church members.
August 21st, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I love the “caged” sunflowers stretching to the grate image.
I’ve been Urban and guerilla gardening for the past few years and cover these topics on my blog as well. I really like your design, and have joined the blogroll that you have on your site. Excellent work.
I came via the ‘funhappytimegardening” blog in Riverside, Ca.
QV: guerillagardening.org
You are bookmarked
VL
August 22nd, 2007 at 4:39 am
i can just see - the rage against the machine cover “Guerilla gardening” showing up any day now :D
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:49 am
This is actually really interesting. Like Al mentioned, I love the term they came up with to describe this phenomenon.
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:12 am
Oh very good! i liket his concept!
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:22 am
um did you not see, these ‘gardeners’ are terrorists! stop them from planting these beautiful benificial flowers before we all lose our freedom!
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:35 am
Rock on, great cause, and a much better looking effect!
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:51 am
I like the idea… But how long do the plants survive? Are they checked to see if the soil is good for them, alkalinity, salt content… etc etc? Still an amazing idea :)
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:14 am
Hey does anybody in San Francisco want to organize some events??? I’d love to collaborate on such a project. We have so much grey concrete, and the recent news about NY having a ton more trees than us made me mad. Any takers? bennash@gmail.com
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:38 am
I started doing this years ago in NYC with ailanthus and salix (’tree of heaven’ and willows). I’ve always concentrated on planting trees, but herbaceous plants improve the environment too. I heard somewhere that there are more tires in the US than trees, so I made it a personal goal to plant at least two trees for every tire I’ve used in my lifetime. I’m past that goal now, but still planting. Breathe Free!!
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:44 am
This is going to catch on like crabgrass… kickass! Go go guerilla gardeners!
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:55 am
A unique application of guerilla gardening would be to plant loads of marijuana plants on government property in support of its legalization. The government would be in an embarrassing position of trying to control drug trade while weed is growing on the grounds of their own police stations, etc.
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:31 am
If they keep labeling everyone a terrorist, what are we going to call the guy running into the crowded mall with dynamite wrapped around his waste?
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:31 am
Yeah but try that in Houston, the ugly city that is impossible to beautify. The lack of density means you have miles to cover between each building, which is currently, filled with thick weeds and unkempt grass that will be impossible to cleared. Not to mentioned the numerous empty rust buildings and broken shacks will overshawdow your nice little garden.
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:23 pm
We had a guerilla garden back in the early 80’s. We took over an overgrown abandoned lot, planted a huge garden, set up a volleyballl court and had weekly keggers/potlucks. We even called ourselves the Guerilla Garden Club. It lasted for about three years until a developer bought the space and built on it. Great fun and lots of great free food.
August 22nd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
lol when i think of guerilla gardening i think of someong growing cannabis out in a forest. to blend it in with the surrounding hahaha. this was false advertisement haha
August 22nd, 2007 at 3:45 pm
To the guy that labbeled these people ‘Terrorists’
Umm do they look like they have bombs strapped around them? NO.How do we know your not a terrorist in disguise
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Thanks for the link to my moss graffiti post. While my first attempt didn’t work so well, I’ll try again. After all, gardening is less about having a natural green thumb than being stubborn and persistent! Check out my Resistance is Fertile archives on more green subversiveness: http://www.heavypetal.ca/archi.....s_fertile/
(Try making seed bombs - so fun, and so effective.)
Anonymous - not all guerillas check to make sure they’re using native plant/seeds, or that they will do well in their chosen location, but most do.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I can’t think of anything cooler than this! Punk-rock Plants!
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:00 pm
We have guerilla garbage collection here.
Groups pick up all the bottles, cans, cartons etc that (drinking/smoking) thoughtless car drivers just throw out of the car windows onto the verbes.
August 23rd, 2007 at 7:19 am
Yeah, we called it Urban Assault Forestry, which is probably a much less marketable name. Anyways, our take, which is longer on theory and way shorter on photos of ourselves:
http://www.brainsturbator.com/.....project_7/
August 30th, 2007 at 6:52 am
Count me in as a Guerilla Gardener and proud of it. Here is a blog post I did no one of my “operations” last year:
>>http://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/guerilla-gardening.html
September 4th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Beautiful article– the sunflowers’ll provide food for some of the local critters and repopulate themselves, and they don’t have invasive root systems like some plants do. Coolness. Mint’d be a good thing to toss in a ditch if nothing else’ll grow there– I had some spring up where some motor-oil got spilled once.
Saw a nice little thing once in gorilla gardening, a friend of mine directed his run-off from his rooftop A/C unit into a capped piece of PVC pipe with a bunch of holes drilled in it; it watered the little teeny garden he snuck in right below it every time the thing overflowed. Try it! You can use duct tape for camo if you need to hide the white pipe.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
This is a real crazy idea. Urban green is a tie with nature. Its an idea worth digging into despite its being seen as ‘underground’ operaton. Yeah carry on digging!
September 13th, 2007 at 7:33 am
Crazy way to make the city landscape nicer.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:22 am
Guerrilla gardening…. that’s so combat! You rock! I’m a Clash fan hehehehe
April 19th, 2008 at 1:01 am
I have never heard of guerilla gardening, it is a great idea. I give my full support!
May 5th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Me and friends did a bunch of times in Fortaleza, Brazil. With local species.. mainly trees and mainly the ones that provide fruits… Most of them didnt survive but some are huge now.
June 8th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I had never heard of Guerilla gardening before last week. I tried something last year that I called Hobo gardening planting a few potatoes on a piece of waste ground near by. I was relating the story to a kindred spirit when he informed me that my idea was not new.Little did I know I was a day late and a dollar short on the concept. In these uncertain times we are gonna have to get creative. Teach your kids to do for themselves.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Hi,
I’m working as a researcher on a Welsh language television programme which will include an item about two middle aged ladies who are “guerrilla gardening”, even though they did not realise that that was what they were doing, in a small town in North Wales.
What I’m looking for are a few still images of the almost stereotype of the guerrilla gardener - young, urban and possibly at night. Do you have any, possibly some from this website we could use?
Thank you.
Regards,
Sian Northey
August 1st, 2008 at 10:56 am
Check out the young hip gardeners of Hollywood.
http://laguerrillagardening.org
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 am
I never realized that there was a name for this. My wife and I have been doing this for several years. Our preference is to plant perennials in spots where people never expect to see them. It’s amazing what a difference just 3 or 4 flowers can make to the way an area looks.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:14 am
I tried gorilla gardening at my condo in Kelowna and another residend found it and while I was away on a trip they took it out. I am much annoyed.
January 12th, 2009 at 5:08 am
I’ve been solo guerrilla gardening for many years in Los Angeles. In the past few months people have been joining in to put in guerrilla gardens all over LA.
April 6th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Check out my own Guerrilla Gardening/Architecture
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