“It’s about brightening up people’s lives and putting a bit of green and flowers into the grey areas of London…”

ITV news joins Richard Reynolds and guerrilla gardeners on the London lavender field in March 2006

“When Richard Reynolds began planting flowers secretly at night outside his tower block in South London he had no idea he was part of a growing global movement committed to combating the forces of neglect, land shortage and apathy towards public spaces. But his blog www.GuerrillaGardening.org attracted other guerrillas from around the world to share their experiences of the horticultural front line with him and become a focal point for guerrilla gardeners everywhere.

On Guerrilla Gardening is a lively colourful treatise about why people illicitly cultivate land and how to do it. From discretely beautifying corners of Montreal to striving for green communal space in Berlin and sustainable food production in San Francisco, from small gestures of fun in Zurich to bold political statements in Brazil, cultivating land beyond your boundary is a battle many different people are fighting. Unearthed along the way are the movement’s notable historic advances by seventeenth century English radicals, a nineteenth century American entrepreneur and artists in 1970s New York.

Reynolds has researched the subject with guerrilla gardeners from thirty different countries and compiles their advice on what to grow, how to cope with adverse environmental conditions, how to seed bomb effectively and to use propaganda to win support.”

In the video below – Richard Reynolds and his 93 year old grandmother go guerrilla gardening in Totnes, Devon (Hey – that’s (almost) our home town!) 🙂 She gets a kiss from a stranger for her efforts and Richard tries (and fails) to get some locals interested in planting veg…
Just wait til I’m a local – I’ll be planting veg – just try and stop me! 😀

On Guerrilla Gardening:

A Handbook for Gardening Without Boundaries By Richard Reynolds

“On Guerrilla Gardening gives entertaining inspiration, practical reference and no excuses for not getting out there and gardening.”

Fun! “This is a book about the history of illegal gardening, and instructions (perfect!) on how to join the quiet war that is being waged with muddy boots and a watering can. If you have always found ways to live a responsibly mischievous life, you will definitely enjoy this book (it’s got good photos too!). I read somewhere once that it is a leprechaun’s duty to bring more laughter, joy and beauty into the world… I think that perhaps Reynolds has roots in that other world because he seems to be doing an excellent job at spreading joy, beauty, and openness, and bringing a bit of sparkle back to the world.”

Guerrilla Gardening inspiration “I thought this book was great. After finishing reading the book I found a group in my area that was doing guerrilla gardening. I feel a lot better about living in LA now that I’m participating with the group. You can see what the book inspired at www.laguerrillagardening.org” Customer Reviews from Amazon.com