Gardening Outside The Lines: 3 Guerrilla Tactics to Try
Guerrilla gardening is easily the most fun (and least dangerous) type of rebellion you can engage in. With a patch of dirt and a few seeds, you can do anything you can imagine. Plant your garden in a one-time shot, spend a few minutes a week on it, or make it your hobby, but get out there and beautify your world! Here are a few ideas to get you started.
1. Go Seed Bombing
The classic, and a fun activity for rebels and flower-lovers young and old. This works best in spring and early summer, and in places where it rains regularly. Just pack seeds (preferably for native wildflowers) in a ball of clay and compost, let them dry in a dark, cool spot, and go out for a bike ride, tossing posies wherever you think they belong! The rains will get your flowers growing, and you can come back to visit them whenever you like.
2. Garden Vacant Lots
Questionably legal, of course, but if you’ve got a vacant lot or foreclosed home in your neighborhood, you might be willing to take the risk. If you’ve got a small yard at home, an unused piece of land might be the perfect place to grow your own veggies. Or you can beautify an abandoned front yard with native plants and wildflowers. Use your creativity, and whenever possible, ask permission!
3. Re-landscape Public Places
This may be illegal in many places, so find out if you’re breaking any laws before you go making things prettier in your own town. Look out for grubby, untended little spots, like holes in the sidewalk that were originally intended for trees. Try to find a patch that’s close to home, then gather some hardy plants and soil and make a midnight mission to revamp your bit of abandoned soil! Don’t forget to clean up after yourself, and visit often to water and tend your little plot of happiness.
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Image: mathiasbaert
