Guerilla Gardening

[Dover]

'Guerilla Gardening'- beautifying L.A. (and elsewhere) in the middle of the night


http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iw64Nhb6HU9JlRfo2WC1EruttACQD91N7HBO0


"What we're fighting is neglect," said guerrilla gardening guru Richard Reynolds of London, founder of the Web site guerillagardening.org.

Getting approval to beautify public property can be cumbersome, so guerrilla gardeners in cities worldwide take matters into their own dirt-caked hands.

"I'm a guerrilla gardener, but I'm mostly just a maintenance guy," LaBonge said. "I pull weeds when I'm out walking. Everyone is welcome to do it. The city needs help."

Scott Bunnell, who has maintained a guerrilla garden on a median in Long Beach for about 10 years, said he wants to demonstrate that low-maintenance gardens are possible in Southern California's arid climate.

Reynolds said the modern form of guerrilla gardening started in the 1970s in New York, where the movement has reached its ultimate goal — gardens planted without permission are now maintained by the city's parks and recreation department. He said Montreal is close to sprouting some synergy with guerrilla gardeners.

But most cities, including London and Los Angeles, aren't quite there yet, and so the 27-year-old music and drama teacher who organized the Hollywood Freeway offramp project is intent on staying covert and anonymous — even requiring that his crew use aliases such as his own, "Mr. Stamen," or "Phil O'Dendron."

"If authorities come by, there's no leader," he yelled as his fellow gardeners dispersed over the median. "Nobody knows anybody."

Mr. Stamen and his guerrilla group have filled about a third of the median with succulents such as grass-like flax, aloe and red, blue, pink and yellow kalanchoes — all donated by members of the group. They plan to finish landscaping the rest of the patch soon.

A sign sticks up from the dirt at the edge of the median closest to Sunset Boulevard.

"Guerrilla Gardening," it reads. "Please water me."

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Cross posting from a thread by 'underpants'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=389&topic_id=3574801&mesg_id=3574801

[asdjrocky]

1. What a cool idea.

There's a few lots near my home that have been empty for years and I've often thought about doing something like this. I had no idea these guys existed. Thanks for the info.

[Lisa0825]

2. I love it!

What a great kind of "vandalism."