What is the practical meaning, benefits and risks of guerilla gardening? We spoke with architects, landscape designers, eco-activists, representatives of communal services and, of course, with the gardeners themselves about the right of ordinary residents to green urban spaces and the problems associated with the self-activity of gardening enthusiasts. They recalled the history of the movement and talked about foreign practices.
The history of the struggle for beauty
Bowery Houston Farm and Garden in New York is a sacred place for any modern urbanist. This small, quiet oasis in a bustling metropolis is a symbol of a controversial social movement known as guerrilla gardening. In the 70s of the XNUMXth century, having fought off the capital of Robert Moses and his developer friends, New York activists tried to ennoble the urban environment on their own. They took over vacant lots, cleaned up garbage, cleaned the soil if possible, and planted flower or vegetable seeds. They also protested against the war in Vietnam, which is why many consider guerrilla gardening a political movement. Although the political component has disappeared over the years, flowers are an eternal theme.
Liz Christie and her volunteer helpers take care of a very young garden created on a wasteland. Today, Bowery Houston Farm and Garden bears the name of its founder Liz Christie and is protected by law. Photo: Jack Clarity
The Liz Christie Garden is supported by the community. For resource-intensive work in the garden, such as, for example, restoring the gazebo, neighbors collect funds through fundraising platforms. Photo: Troy Simpson
The guerrilla gardeners group was led by artist Liz Christie, a graduate of Columbia University. In 1973, she inspired her friends to clean up a landfill at the intersection of two streets on the Lower East Side, plant a nursery school on the site, and when it was done, effectively delivered an ultimatum to the municipality, offering to enter into a contract to lease the site for a nominal dollar a year. At that time, the area had a bad reputation, and no one claimed the plot where "hippies grew tomatoes."
Later, when gentrification gained momentum, local residents had to protest to protect their favorite vacation spot. Today, the garden is named after Liz Christie and is federally protected as a National Historic Landmark. And the example itself turned out to be contagious: today there are more than 40 public gardens in the East Village, and a special map with a route for viewing them has even been created for tourists.
Richard Reynolds, a veteran of the UK guerrilla gardening movement and author of Guerrilla Gardening: A Botanical Manifesto, is holding a workshop for journalists. Photo source: guerrillagardening.org
The guerrilla gardening movement received a breath of fresh air in the 2000s — already in Europe. In practically all European capitals and large cities, communities of urban planners emerged who specialized in landscaping and were not afraid of experiments, mixing plants in one cultural flowerbed in combinations that are completely unusual for traditional urban park art.
Since 2007, many countries have celebrated the International Day of Guerrilla Gardening by scattering sunflower seeds on the streets
Today, tomatoes and sunflowers in the flower beds in front of the houses of parliament and corporations are no longer perceived as something wild, and landscape designers often use a combination with courtyard front gardens in formal landscaping. Even the palace!
"Grandmother's front garden style" in the landscaping design of the famous Sanssouci palace complex in Potsdam
For example, this summer the decorative borders in front of the famous Palace of Sanssouci in Potsdam resembled a garden bed in a grandmother's garden, where tomatoes and cabbage grow intermingled with marigolds, asters and sunflowers. No, it is obvious that the gardens in Sans Souci are a carefully planned and approved project in dozens of German authorities. But the "folk" style itself is a clear reference to gardening amateurs.
One of the methods used by Liz Christie's friends to quickly and effectively improve a dreary urban landscape without the use of shovels has been adopted by thousands of followers around the world. And it is quite simple. You take the seeds of your favorite plants, mix them with clay and compost in a ratio of 1:3:5, form small balls and dry them. Perfectly! You've made seed-bombs, which you can slingshot at any wasteland, a bleak communal flower bed with a rickety thuja, or a boring neighbor's lawn. With a high degree of probability, the seed will germinate (whether it will grow to bloom is already a question).
Making seed bombs is a popular topic of educational workshops for children and adults. Image source: gardeningknowhow.com
If you don't know much about compost varieties or don't know how to mix clay, then you can buy ready-made seed bombs on hipster resources. On Etsy, search for #seedbombs, #seedbomb, and #seedbombing for tons of eye-popping custom, colorful seed bombs.
Seeds planted in seed-bombs germinate and take root easily. Image source: instructables.com
There are dozens of unpretentious flower crops that can be sown immediately in the soil, without previous shamanic dances around the seedlings. Most of them are annuals, which, if they like the conditions, will sow on their own in the following seasons. They are used as part of ready-made mixtures for Moorish lawns.
The topic of seed-bombing is gaining popularity among buzzers who brag about their exploits in Tik Tok. Illegal? Generally yes, it is illegal.
"Grandmother's front garden style" in the landscaping design of the famous Sanssouci palace complex in Potsdam.
What is not allowed is forbidden
In most countries, the law interprets arbitrary planting of plants in the city as illegal privatization of public or private space. In addition, this practice challenges the aesthetic order of cities.
In the Czech Republic, for example, at the request of a dissatisfied owner of a plot of land, the violator can be fined 15 kroner (over 500 euros), and if the partisan violated phytosanitary regulations and planted some dangerous invasive plant, the amount of damage can be estimated at 50 kroner. In particularly serious cases, a criminal case may be initiated. The situation when the roots of an adult sapling have damaged communications is considered particularly serious. Even more serious fines are imposed in neighboring Germany.
The space around street trees is usually trampled and littered. By planting annual flowers in the root zone, garden partisans not only decorate the street, but also help create a favorable environment for tree roots. Very often, passers-by and dogs quickly destroy the plants, but this does not reduce the enthusiasm of the activists. Image source: naturespots.net
The situation is quite typical for the post-Christmas period: Christmas trees and pine trees with tinsel stuck in the needles are planted right in the middle of the lawn or on the side. The campaign aimed at purchasing New Year's trees in pots gave unexpected and sad results: in the majority of cases, the plants do not take root in harsh street conditions.
Of course, the police have a lot of more important things than the fight against weeds flowers and seedlings and those who plant them. Especially since, from the point of view of most residents, the garden partisans are not doing anything wrong. Those who paint walls and public transport with graffiti are shamed much more often.
The Allmende-Gärten public garden on the grounds of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin is maintained by more than 500 volunteer gardeners. The problem is that there are almost twice as many willing people as there are free beds. Photo: Jörg Kantel
Guerrilla gardening often manifests itself as a form of public resistance to unwanted development. At night, activists plant saplings of trees and flowers on the territory set aside for construction, and the next day, thousands of local residents come out to the rally, attracted by the call to protect the new public garden. Having launched bulldozers on a construction site that has suddenly turned green, the developer appears to be a real barbarian, and his legally sanctioned actions become questionable from the point of view of public morality. Insidious, but quite effective in societies sensitive to public opinion. And this radical form of guerrilla gardening is already a serious problem for the authorities and owners of capital.
But the solution to the problem is on the table: you can’t fight (because it can cause even more massive protest) — communicate, cooperate, lead
For example, even in Munich - the center of law-abiding bourgeois Germany - Guerrilla Gärtner are active. But they are under the auspices of the Green City eco-organization, which closely interacts with the authorities. In recent years, municipal officials have even offered to provide partisans with plants for landscaping. Green City organizes partisans, and they also mobilize local residents. In the end, everyone is satisfied, and utilities also save labor costs in the implementation of planned projects - a classic example of a win-win solution.
Microgardens in road cracks and potholes are a project of London-based gardener and photographer Steve Wynn, which thus popularizes the ideas of guerilla gardening. Photo: Steve Wheen
In 2022, about 150 public organizations in Great Britain appealed to the Parliament to consider and pass the law "On the right to grow". The draft law, prepared by activists of the Incredible Edible movement, provides for the right of citizens to use empty areas for growing vegetables, fruits and flowers. If the land belonging to the city, i.e. its residents, is not used for development or recreation, then why not make it available for gardens and parks?
Activists emphasize that in the event of an acute food crisis, citizens will at least be able to grow vegetables for their own table on the cultivated wastelands of British cities. Well, the need to grow flowers is simply part of the national genetic code. The idea has already gained a lot of support among parliamentarians in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and the UK is close to legislating guerrilla gardening.
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
Rural subculture in the city
We previously talked about the advantages of introducing agricultural practices into urban life in the article "Urban Village: The Best of Different Worlds", where modern approaches to the urban village format were described in detail.
It is difficult to surprise Ukrainians with a sunflower sprouting from a crack in the asphalt, usually it has nothing to do with the underground movement of garden partisans. But self-activity in the field of urban gardening is as familiar to us as air. Yard front gardens are an integral element in areas with Khrushchev buildings, Stalin buildings or two-story barracks. Sometimes among the gardens there are very attractive compositions that force passers-by to slow down to admire the bright blooms. If a small assortment of plants does not allow self-expression, gardens are decorated with handmade items from old tires or plastic bottles. Two years ago, the capital's authorities declared war on tire barricades, and many Kyiv yards were cleared of old rubber. Many plants planted in these "containers" died in the process of "deshinization".
Beds with herbs and flowers in front of new office buildings in Prague's Karlin district. Office employees plant plants on the beds and take care of them in their free time
The lack of space for plants is not a reason to abandon the landscaping of the city. Sometimes garden partisans act in this way. Photo: sebastiankauer
In the spring, the enthusiasm of the masses often manifests itself in the organization of Sabbath workers with the traditional planting of tree seedlings. Sometimes such actions are organized, sometimes they happen spontaneously. The result is different: very often, young trees die en masse from drought, and self-made flower beds are destroyed by people in the form of communal services with lawn mowers. Our interlocutors believe that there could be much less dead plants and conflicts, and the result of spring landscaping campaigns would be more successful, if citizens and representatives of city services cooperated.
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Anna Galagan: Everyone sees "beautiful" in their own way
Guerrilla gardening is a very ambiguous phenomenon. On the one hand, the initiative of people to do something beautiful around is very valuable, it shows that they do not care. Another question is how to direct such an initiative in the right direction. The trouble is that everyone sees "beautiful" in their own way, and this "beautiful" may not always be appropriate in the place where it was suddenly created.
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
For example, my favorite Solomyan Park. Despite the fact that many elements of the park need major repairs, it is generally very harmonious. This is a natural park with beautiful smooth lines of paths. And suddenly here on the lawn appears an avenue of chestnuts. Despite the fact that this straight line does not fit into the surrounding natural vegetation. Despite the fact that chestnuts are not the best choice, because they get sick. Despite the fact that the alley also passes through catalpa plantations and leaves no space for them. When these trees were planted small, they were almost invisible. But the growth rate of the chestnut is much higher than that of the catalpa, and now they are competing for a place in the sun.
The correct selection of plants is also one of the many problems of guerilla gardening. Usually no one analyzes whether this particular plant is really appropriate, what are its prospects in the future
Yuccas and other plants that need a sunny place are planted in the shade, moisture-loving plants, on the contrary, in full sun without watering. And, of course, plants in unfavorable conditions for them have a simply terrible appearance.
The territory of Solomyansky Park in Kyiv is mainly an authentic landscape, and its flora and fauna are protected in accordance with the Berne Convention. Planting exotic plants in such places contradicts the principle of conservation Photo source: ecoaction.org.ua
In my example of plantings in the Solomyansky Park, it is the catalpa that is more stable and suitable, because it is a drought-resistant plant that feels great even in the current climate change situation, when we have high temperatures and drought in the summer. But the chestnut is affected by a mite, and in the middle of summer its leaves are already dry and actively falling.
There are also initiatives by companies, public activists or other organizers to solemnly plant plants, tying it to some event, etc. Once again, in Solomyansk park, plantings of tiny viburnum shoots appear among the grass with plaques bearing the names of the children who planted them. Apparently, it was a celebration of graduation from kindergarten. In addition to the feasibility of a viburnum grove in that particular place, there are other nuances. Of course, without care, watering and in an area where children run, these seedlings had no chance of survival. But did the organizers think that this is also the wasted hope of that child who planted her bush and dreamed of seeing how it will grow?
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
Christmas trees occupy a special place in partisan landscaping. First of all, we have a kind of crazy and invincible love for Christmas trees. In my opinion, trees that create shade and filter the air, as well as reduce noise pollution, are more relevant in the city at the moment. And here a Christmas tree is not the best choice. Secondly, every New Year people buy Christmas trees in pots to plant them somewhere in the city. And here the garden centers are a little deceptive, they keep quiet that the chances of such Christmas trees are almost zero.
In the apartment, in the warmth, the Christmas tree, which was in a state of winter sleep, wakes up, buds open, and the Christmas tree actively throws out new twigs and roots. And then it is taken out into the cold - and the increase freezes. Even if the Christmas tree is kept warm until May, it usually dries up anyway. Because after waking up, she needs a lot of moisture, and few people follow this. That is why our parks are replenished often with such rather herbariums of Christmas trees that quickly self-destruct.
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Olga Kleitman: Public spaces are formed by specialists
In my opinion, personal freedom ends where the freedom of others begins. You can express yourself in your yard. Public spaces are formed by specialists taking into account current legislation. It sounds like a rare bore, but it is what it is. The work of Hamlet Zinkivskyi, a Ukrainian artist and street artist who does not ask anyone whether it is possible to paint on a particular wall, decorates our Kharkiv. But his example only emphasizes that it would be better if specialists took care of public spaces. Yes, if there were the same landscape "hamlets", then everyone would win. But Hamlet is unique, a rare exception. Therefore, when it comes to creating a high-quality social environment, it is better to work according to the protocol.
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Olena Fateeva: Creating any park or garden is primarily architecture and design
The main problem is the land issue. It often happens like this: people plant trees, and six months later a tractor appears and levels everything to the ground, because the property rights to the plot belonged to some developer. People cannot coordinate their actions with the owner, because they simply do not know who he is. During the war, all cadastres were closed, including the land register. That is, there is no easy way for an ordinary person to find out who owns the wasteland under the windows. And even if it is possible to find out, there are very few examples of positive communication with the developer. For example, the community of Mykilska Slobidka has been choosing to create a park for almost 20 years. But when people planted trees in the community-owned portion, the next day the developer claiming the site brought bulldozers and leveled everything. I witnessed this.
Chaotic plantings are just partially provoked by those who are called "evil builders" in our country. People know from their own bitter experience: if the plot surprisingly turned out to be empty, then it is waiting for development. And they are in a hurry to at least somehow declare the rights to public use. If legally nothing can be done, people outside the law try to realize their right to a comfortable city.
The second point is the issue of ecologically correct approach. People often plant invasive plants that are not native to our area and behave aggressively, displacing native species. Before we plant something in the Horbachi Nature Reserve or release fish into lakes, we turn to the Academy of Sciences, to scientists who give us recommendations on which species will not harm, but will increase biological diversity. The simplest recommendation is if poplars are already growing in your yard and are doing well, then plant poplars, if pines are growing, then pines, that is, those plants that are characteristic of this area.
Beds with herbs and flowers in front of new office buildings in Prague's Karlin district. Office employees plant plants on the beds and take care of them in their free time
In Brussels, the authorities allowed residents not only to grow flowers and vegetables in the wasteland between residential buildings, but also to install a greenhouse there. La Pousse Qui Pousse nursery is now growing seedlings for public urban areas. Activists often hold educational seminars and other events dedicated to urban gardening here. Photo source: haricots.org
The issue of aesthetics is no less important. Creating any park or garden is primarily architecture and design. We were isolated from the world for almost a century. Entire generations grew up in an aesthetically poor environment. When a person lives in an ugly city, he cannot even take inspiration from nature, because it seems to be absent. Due to the lack of urban landscape culture, some tried to reproduce in the courtyards of high-rise buildings what they saw in the village, such as gardens. Others, on the contrary, furiously destroyed everything green. I talked to our janitors, and it turned out that many of them are former villagers who hate weeds and consider asphalt the main sign of civilization.
Only now, when the borders have become transparent, Ukrainians travel to different countries and fill their eyes, forming an aesthetic taste. Until a few years ago, there was no choice of planting material - even if you wanted to plant something beautiful, and only apple pears were available, then we got orchards at best. But now you can already buy, for example, a tree-like hydrangea, which winters perfectly, there are varieties of roses that do not need to be covered for the winter, a huge selection of conifers.
The desire to own a plot of land, even a tiny one, is part of the identity of Ukrainians, it is what distinguishes us from our "non-brothers"
This identity was beaten out of us in the USSR. Now it takes time for us to remember it. I had an office on the first floor of a nine-story building on the Left Bank, and under the windows - about 5 acres of land. In this area, I planted David Austin roses, hydrangeas and XNUMX bulbs. For the first year, local residents plundered this area as best they could: they dug up, uprooted, and tore up. But in autumn I planted new plants. They were no longer dug up - they came with a knife and cut the flowers. In the third year, the neighbors suddenly started planting something themselves. On the fifth, when we went on vacation for a long time, people were already taking care of and watering this improvised garden on their own. That is, it took five years for the residents of the building to feel responsible and involved.
The public garden Allmende-Gärten in Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin. Photo: Nic Simanek
European experience can and should be used in the planning of new quarters: apartments on the first floors are sold with a small yard that can be decorated to your own taste. Children are instilled in the culture of gardening and landscape design already in kindergarten. As a result, even amateur experiments have an elegant and decorative look.
It would be great if our developers would leave plots on the territory of new complexes that residents could arrange independently. So that it is not ugly, you can advise them, help with the selection of the assortment. In the absence of space, you can experiment with container gardening. Until recently, we did not have special decorative boxes for external units of air conditioners, now their presence is a good tone. So why not immediately provide planter spaces and pre-installed brackets on the balconies so that people can hang pots of petunias there?
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Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska: I personally need it, because I love the land, because it gives a feeling of home
Our front garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building is already called an "arboretum" by the locals. My neighbor and I started planting flowers 7 years ago. I collected them from all over Ukraine, brought seeds from my travels. Among the flowers there are red book flowers. One grandfather said that we started a wonderful wave, because the whole neighborhood is already planting. I give out seedlings, because it grows like crazy. I want to have flowers all the time, so I'm having fun. Of course, the land is difficult: there is almost no soil, construction waste, poplar roots, but I have almost come to terms with it.
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
Yard gardens unite neighbors, promote communication. City children themselves offer help: planting, watering, trimming, weeding, helping to fight pests, of course, with the consent of their parents. That is, it is also an educational function. I personally need it because I love the land because it gives me a sense of home. By the way, very often strangers in the area say hello and thank you for the beauty, older people change the route to the store to a longer one in order to admire our "arboretum".
Greenery, in addition to beauty, gives oxygen and saves from the heat. The main benefit is the support of fauna: if bushes, trees, and flowers are planted correctly, it attracts and allows birds, insects, hedgehogs, and squirrels to survive
For example, I haven't seen snowbirds under our house for several years, because almost all the lilacs have been destroyed, and they feed on its seeds. I planted some lilac, barberry, black rowan, and holly magnolia — this is what allows the birds to survive the winter. I'm waiting for snowmen. True, the sparrows and pigeons gutted the berries of mahonia and barberry back in the summer.
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
Planting flowers in yards is, of course, an initiative of the residents themselves. We plant what is brought from the cottages and what we can afford to buy. But yes, there is a possibility that non-specialists can accidentally plant harmful plants. I carefully study what I plant, for example, recently I was offered a bean tree, a very beautiful tree, but extremely poisonous. Or they can plant aggressors that displace other species: sumach (vinegar tree), goldenrod - in this way, harm can be more than good. So consultations would not be superfluous, even for such pedantic gardeners as me.
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
The whole neighborhood is already running to me for advice, I explain that I carefully study everything about the plants I want to plant. If the front garden goes outside, the help of a specialist in urban planning is definitely needed. If "Kyivzelenbud" helped residents with plants, it would be cool.
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Oleksiy Korol: Such actions should be supported and at the same time regulated
"Guerrilla gardening" in its pure manifestation is not peculiar to us. It is based on protest, and the people of Kyiv are mostly ready and willing to cooperate. People now have an understanding that simply planting or sowing something is not enough: plants need care, watering, pruning and the same. It is still possible to do it on your own in the residential areas, but somewhere in the middle of the street, it is unlikely. Although it often leads to the appearance of so-called "grandmother's flower beds" or trees in tires in the adjacent territories, which can hardly be called urban landscaping.
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
At one time, we started explaining that you can't just stick a tree in the lawn or on both sides of the road, that there may be the same underground communications, that not all plants are good, that by law we have to remove self-sowing plants.
Thus, in the Rules of Improvement of the City of Kyiv, it is stated that arbitrary planting of green spaces in green areas is prohibited and that their improvement is carried out by balance-keepers
There were cases when, due to accidents on communication networks or planned repairs, it was necessary to remove adult trees that people once planted in the middle of the street or lawn because they wanted to.
At the same time, I think that such actions, let's call them proactive rather than partisan, should be supported and, at the same time, regulated. After all, there are cases when thin twigs are planted, and then they complain that they have dried up and broken. A tree is a living organism that grows, can get sick and need treatment, and needs proper care for full development. And in recent years, we began to receive not just requests or demands to green something, but requests to clarify, arrange joint landings, help pick up plants. Our people are ready to buy one already quite mature 5-7-year-old tree and plant it with us, knowing that they will take care of it.
As for invasive species, it is necessary to clearly understand what and where is invasive. We do not plant them on our balance territories, but we remove self-sowing growth. In addition, for patrons who want to join the greening of the city, in the spring and autumn we compile a map of locations with a list of plants that can be planted in this place, we help organize the planting process. This helps to avoid the appearance of invasive plants.
A garden in the yard of a Kyiv high-rise building, created by Nadiya Vasylenko-Korovyanska and her associates. Photo: Nadia Vasylenko-Korovyanska
Politics or the new urban culture?
If people cooperate and approach representatives of city authorities with offers to participate in improvement programs, and they justify their reluctance to cooperate by accusing citizens of political involvement, this will inevitably lead to an escalation of the struggle for the "right to the city". The conflict, which was extinguished with the help of bulldozers and force, may turn into a violent confrontation.
Guerrilla gardening is one of the signs of the formation of a close-knit urban community
But, like any specific field, urban landscaping is an activity that requires knowledge. It is unlikely that residents of high-rise buildings will go to landscape design courses en masse. Employees of green buildings are unlikely to engage in educational activities. Architects and landscape designers in the complex communication between authorities and citizens can play the role of enthusiastic mediators, mediators interested in a quality result, who understand the specifics of the landscaping process and urban planning regulations.
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