The earth laughs in flowers — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Guerilla gardening is gardening on vacant land, typically an empty city lot, without the owner’s permission. Whether planting flowers, shrubs or a vegetable patch, the purpose is to create beauty and put neglected land to some use for the community. Sorta like a “people’s eminent domain”.
It began in 1973 in New York City when artist Liz Christy and her Green Guerilla Group planted over a littered lot on the corner of Bowery & Houston (pronounced “howston”) Streets in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is now a worldwide phenomenon and has morphed into other areas of green activism. (See ABC News post link below).
Some guerrilla gardeners plant under the stars and cover of night, while others work in daylight, under the open stares of passersby, seeking to engage with members of the local community.
So, if you’re angry about your city or town’s failure to clean up that empty lot, pick up a pick and join a dig.
Legal Note: Since you are trespassing on another’s land, guerilla gardening is illegal. So, if this scares you, stick to listing other’s homes for sale on zillow.com.
Image: Google images
Post Dedication: Kim Harris
Grow your knowledge further:
GreenGuerillas.org
Guerillagardening.org.
Wikipedia
Green Guerilla Take over Sydney (ABC News)- where green activism is moving over to lightbulbs
Green Guerillas Fighting Urban Blight and the Closure of Community Gardens (Satya)
Guerilla Gardening in London (Google video)
Technorati Tags: Guerrilla gardening, green guerillas, green activism, eminent domain, liz christy,
Thanks Joe for the dedication…..
You anr Rudy are finding great stuff to present, while most everyone else is waiting for the sky to fall.
Talk to you soon,
Kim
My pleasure Kim. You are an inspiration. I still have flashbacks about my time with you and Ardell.
Hope to see you in NYC.