Guerilla Gardening - Not Quite as Agit Prop as it Sounds?

by Graham Burnett

(this article was originally published in 'The Land' magazine, Summer 2006)

'Guerrilla Gardening' is sometimes perceived as the radical cutting edge of the urban community gardening movement. When described by Primal Seeds as “An urban adventure at the threshold of nature and culture, taking back our own time and space, transforming the urban desert, into a provider of food and a space where people meet face to face to discuss and participate directly in the remaking of their own towns and cities”ⁱ, all those Post-Situationist, Robin Hood types running about with their seeds and trowels are bound to seem a far sexier proposition than school gardening clubs, dusty old allotmenteers or 5-a-Day healthy eating initiatives run by the local Asian mums group!

Of course, unruly punk rockers crowning Winston with a turf mohican on May Day 2000  was a brilliant piece of Daily Mail-baiting agit-prop. So too the occupation of the old Wandsworth Guinness brewery by Pure Genius in 1996 was an inspiring piece of direct action, creating a Temporary Autonomous Zone that provided food, shelter and alternatives for many of the capital's marginalised for over six months. But at the same time, these are the 'spectaculars'; the 'crowd pleasers' that garner acres of press attention and special features in the Sunday Supplements. In reality, 'guerrilla gardening actions' are more often about ordinary people uniting to improve their environments and local communities without waiting for permission to do so.

For my part I'm proudest to have played a small role in creating Moon Corner on what used to be an unloved and littered spot beside a busy road in Leigh on Sea, Essex. Used for years as a dumping ground for shopping trolleys, old fridges and crisp packets, the site was cleared by local people to celebrate the anniversary of the post-war squatting movement and transformed into a beautiful micro-community garden. The Woodcraft Folk pruned and tidied the self-sewn sycamore and elders and planted bulbs and flowers, whilst a women's group created a locally distinctive mosaic using broken crockery. A bench was donated, and a mural painted on the wall with the message “This is your space – please help to keep it tidy”. A decade later this tiny spot covering not more than a few square yards is still 'publicly owned' in the real sense of the word. Maybe not quite “an urban adventure at the threshold of nature and culture”, but nonetheless a pleasant and relaxing green spot where harassed passers-by can rest and chat for a while without being bombarded by the 'product placement' messages that surround more and more of our 'designated high street seating areas'.

Recently guerrilla gardening has experienced an upsurge in interest due in no small part to the efforts of Richard Reynolds, host of www.guerrillagardening.org who explains that "We do this because we cannot resist the satisfaction of turning a dilapidated patch of land into something more delightful. In place of compacted mud, rampant dandelions, and empty smoothie bottles we dig in manure, and plant hardy shrubs and luminous bedding." He also reminds us of George Orwell's observation about the English that "All our culture that is most truly native centres round things which even when they are communal are not official."ⁱ Indeed, many local authorities have been forced into a quandary by the unsanctioned improvement of neglected municipal eyesores. The green guerrillas who plant up roundabouts, verges and shopping centres from Stratford to Elephant and Castle are technically guilty of illegal trespass. But the spectacle of prosecutions would do little other than highlight officialdom's own lack of resources or commitment towards providing urban environments fit for the people they claim to serve.

One interesting variant that combines guerrilla gardening and street art themes is the work of direct activist and sculptor 'VIRUS', who serially commits senseless acts of beauty by repairing and improving vandalised public seating around the south London borough of Peckham^v. Broken, ugly and often dangerous items of street furniture are replaced overnight by solid oak benches, often hand carved into clouds, smiles, holly motifs and messages designed to deliberately counter the negative press more usually associated with the SE13 area - "There IS Love in Peckham"…

In 1649 the original guerrilla gardener Gerard Winstanley observed that “the earth is a common treasury for all”, and we can all literally sow our own small seeds without waiting for any official say-so. Not so long ago I found a handful of left over onion sets in my pocket when waiting for a train- I pushed these into the soil of a neglected flower bed by the bench, and hey presto, a few months later, free onions for anybody that cared to pick them!

Graham Burnett, Spring 2006