Guerrilla Gardening: A Nicer Way to Vandalize
If you haven’t run across something about Guerrilla Gardening before now, let me introduce you to the concept and the group. There is a website, that is based in Britain, even though it has members from around the world. So if the site seems too British-y, the guy behind GG is a Brit, so many of the projects covered are London-based.
Guerrilla gardening is kind of like squatting, except that it will be plants, not yourself, in a seemingly abandoned urban space, that is not a building. Let’s say your neighborhood has a curb space that no one looks after, or an oddly placed and unused planter by an older school that is no longer in use. Well, do you think anyone would mind if you put in a few marigolds?
For the most part, people don’t mind.
It is a pleasant way to vandalize someone else’s property. I’d recommend finding a spot to adopt. I live in Portland, Oregon and it is hard to find an abandoned plot of land that doesn’t have something cool growing in it already, but while living in Chicago, I could find spaces with no problem. Choose drought-resistant varieties of plants, so that you don’t have to water it constantly. You should not expect the neighbors to look after your plot — some may, but don’t rely on that resource to keep the plants alive.
Obviously, check out the spot for how much sunlight it receives, because some plants like shade and some like sun. Think easy gardening. There is no reason to put in finicky places. These spaces may have poor, compacted soil, so find those species that don’t mind poor or average soil. Think food, too, and put in easy to grow veggies here and there. Check out ideas in companion planting for ideas. But again, this is not your space, so if you cannot get there everyday, don’t set your plot up for failure. That will make people sad, not happy, and the whole point of putting in flowers is to make people happy. They may not know it, but it will.
Sneak out in the middle of the night with spade and plants. Maybe dress up like a ninja…
Oh, yeah, and it is technically illegal, so don’t get caught.
guerrilla gardening, urban spaces, abandoned, land, garden plot, soil, plants, Portland, Oregon, Chicago
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