The term “guerrilla” may bring to mind a small band of armed soldiers, moving in the dead of night on a stealth mission. In the case of guerrilla gardening, the soldiers are planters, the weapons are shovels, and the mission is to transform an abandoned lot into a thing of beauty. Once an environmentalist’s nonviolent direct action for inner-city renewal, this movement is spreading to all types of people in cities around the world. These modern-day Johnny Appleseeds perform random acts of gardening, often without permission. Typical targets are vacant lots, railway land, underused public squares, and back alleys. The concept is simple, whimsical, and has the cheeky appeal of being a not-quite-legal call to action. Dig in some soil, plant a few seeds, or mend a sagging fence—one good deed inspiring another, with win-win benefits all around. Guerrilla Gardening outlines the power-to-the-people campaign for greening our cities. Tips for effective involvement include: • Finding plants and seeds cheap (or free) • Handling city officials • Getting the dirt on soil • Planting to bring back the birds • Knowing when to ask first Social activists, city dwellers, and longtime gardeners will delight in this fast-paced and funny call to arms. David Tracey is a journalist and environmental designer who operates EcoUrbanist in Vancouver. He is executive director of Tree City Canada, a nonprofit ecological engagement group.

On Guerrilla Gardening is an activist's call to arms to all citizens - green-fingered, green-thinking or curious - to join the revolution of guerrilla gardening: transforming public space into oases of colour and life. The enemy: neglect, apathy and the disintegration of community spirit. The arsenal: daring, a packet of seeds and a passionate commitment to social change. When Richard Reynolds first embarked on guerrilla gardening, growing flowers by moonlight outside his tower block, he had no idea it was part of a growing global movement committed to cultivating the potential in the land regardless of all obstacles. Charting the battles fought across thirty different countries and the revolutionary history of this subculture, On Guerrilla Gardening is an inspirational take on gardening in the 21st century.

Ophélie is a thirty years old city-dweller who’s joined the guerilla gardening movement fighting for decades to bring more green back into cities - and now she’s putting the guerillas’ motto into action by reviving the true spirit of her city and showing everyone the true nature of their world! “PLANT...EVERYWHERE!” Ophélie is a thirty years old city-dweller who’s joined the guerilla gardening movement fighting for decades to bring more green back into cities that increasingly resemble concrete jungles. Now she’s putting the guerillas’ motto into action by reviving the true spirit of her city and showing everyone the true nature of their world! Cookie Kalkair & Ophelie Damblé explore the real world of the guerilla gardening movement that teaches us the principles of making our cities more beautiful and sustainable places, one plant at a time.

War is the natural occupation of man . war-and gardening. Winston Churchill to Siegfried Sassoon, 1918 In the common public perception, contemporary gardening is understood as suburban, as leisure activity, as television makeover opportunity. Its origins are seen as religious or spiritual (Garden of Eden), military (the clipped lawn, the ha-ha and defensive ditches), aristocratic or monarchical (the stately home, the Royal Horticultural Society). Radical Gardening travels an alternative route, through history and across landscape, linking propagation with propaganda. For everyday garden life is not only patio, barbecue, white picket fence, topiary, herbaceous border.. From window box to veggie box, from political plot to flower power, this book uncovers and celebrates moments, movements, gestures, of a people's approach to gardens and gardening. It weaves together garden history with the counterculture, stories of individual plants with discussion of government policy, the social history of campaign groups with the pleasure and dirt of hands in the earth, as well as original interviews alongside media, pop and art references, to offer an informing and inspiring new take on an old subject.

A defintive guide to restoring a neglected, damaged garden explains how to work with the tough plant survivors of such devastation, offering detailed instructions on how to rescue castaways and cuttings and how to grow healthy plants to suit any climate from cuttings, leaves, dead bouquets, compost heaps, and more. Original. 15,000 first printing.

Creative strategies for gardens on balconies, ledges, fireescapes, planting beautiful borders and walkways, kids gardens, and much more!

In Eco-Performance, Art, and Spatial Justice in the US, Courtney B. Ryan traces how urban artists in the US from the 1970s until today contend with environmental domestication and spatial injustice through performance. In theater, art, film, and digital media, the artists featured in this book perform everyday, spatialized micro-acts to contest the mutual containment of urbanites and nonhuman nature. Whether it is plant artist Vaughn Bell going for a city stroll in her personal biosphere, photographer Naima Green photographing Black urbanites in lush New York City parks, guerrilla gardeners launching seed bombs into abandoned city lots, or a satirical tweeter parodying BP’s response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the subjects in this book challenge deeply engrained Western directives to domesticate nonhuman nature. In examining how urban eco-artists perform alternate ecologies that celebrate the interconnectedness of marginalized human, vegetal, and aquatic life, Ryan suggests that small environmental performances can expose spatial injustice and increase spatial mobility. Bringing a performance perspective to the environmental humanities, this interdisciplinary text offers readers stymied by the global climate crisis a way forward. It will appeal to a wide range of students and academics in performance, media studies, urban geography, and environmental studies.