Guerrilla Gardening

Budget cuts in many cities have led to reduced budgets for parks and beautification projects. Residents of many urban areas are fed up with unsightly vacant land and unattended flowerbeds. Some urban nature lovers are so fed up that they have taken matters into their own hands. They have become guerrilla gardeners.

In cities all around the world, often under cover of night, these risk-taking gardeners fill vacant plots with lovely flowers and greenery. In most cases their illicit ventures are welcomed; after all they are providing for free what the city cannot or will not. Groups and websites to coordinate and provide resources for guerrilla gardeners are sprouting up with the trend.

Some cities have programs, such as Vancouver's Green Streets Program, which provide a sanctioned program for citizens to plant vacant areas. This concept may prove useful to coordinate the efforts of would be urban gardeners and to prevent safety issues, but it may not be as much fun for the guerrilla crowd.

Links:

• Winnipeg gardeners sneak flowers onto public streets from CBC News


• Plot twists from the Guardian Unlimited


• Vandalizing with nature from Eye Weekly


• Guerrilla Gardening from Vancouver Community Network


• Guerrilla Gardening from Toronto Public Space Committee, a resource for Guerrilla Gardeners


• Primal Seeds—Guerrilla Gardening a resource for Guerrilla Gardeners

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 6:33 PM on July 13, 2005