5 Guerrilla Gardening Groups Making the World Green (Ssshhh…on the Down Low!)
Have you ever wanted to take over an abandoned field, or a dirt-filled lot, and fill it with flower and vegetable seedlings? Some gardeners are doing just that. These vigilantes with green thumbs are taking back abandoned land, and making it beautiful and productive!
So, just who is into this sort of thing? A lot or people and some organizations (as you may expect). This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it will give you a good idea of how many awesome people are trying to make the world just a tad greener.
1. Los Angeles Guerrilla Gardening (LAGG)
Founded in 2008 by a group of friends, LAGG’s original mission was to merely brighten and green up a local neighborhood. The community really “dug” the organization’s mission and continued to support LAGG. Now, the organization strives to:
“To get our hands dirty by starting gardens all over Los Angeles and to be a resource for other potential Guerrilla Gardeners interested in brightening their own communities.”
The LAGG’s site is full of information about its past missions, and guerrilla gardening tips and tricks.
2. The guerrilla gardeners of Washington, D.C.
This group of young, enthusiastic green people throw seed bombs (golf-ball-sized wads of mud full of wildflower seeds, compost, water, and clay) and “spray-paint” (it’s a combination of a half teaspoon of sugar and beer, or yogurt). The group writes gardening-friendly messages, such as “Nourish, Grow, Shaw,” on streets, etc. Some of the gardeners also host gardening workshops.
Tracey, a writer and designer, is kind of the ultimate guerrilla gardener. The Vancouver-based visionary wrote two novels: “Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto” and “Urban Agriculture: Ideas and Designs for the New Food Revolution” and is the executive director of Tree City, a nonprofit group.
And a few other guerrilla gardener-centric folks:
GuerrillaGardening.org is the place to be if you’re a budding, or seasoned, guerrilla gardener. This site is full of information about guerrilla gardening, and has a community discussion forum and lots of gardening tips.
This project is about, “creating unexpected moment of happiness,” in the form of tiny gardens. This gardener likes to build tiny gardens on footpaths that inspire passerbys’ imaginations.
Want to learn more about guerrilla gardening, or gardening in general? Take a gander at the following Organic Authority articles:
“Cultivate Your Green Thumb: The Top 5 Online Gardening Courses”
“Gardening Outside the Lines: 3 Guerrilla Tactics to Try”
Image: Newtown grafitti
