Weapons of Mass Beautification

Categories: Home & Gardening

You know that little patch of urban blight that you pass by every day?  What if you did something subversive there - like scattering some flower seeds under the cover of night?  That is the mission of Guerrilla Gardeners - to install just a little beauty in an otherwise unbeautiful spot.  A few nocturnal Brits started the idea in London, and now there are 'troops' of planters all over the world.  Their dangerous quest: cleaning up public places - without permission.  I actually know people who have planted 'weapons of mass beautification' right here in Cincinnati - they shall remain anonymous.

Even if it is just temporary, replacing trash with plant material serves to make neighborhoods safer, healthier, and happier.  And subversively or right out in the open, urban gardening is an idea that just makes sense.  Cincinnati's Civic Garden Center is a marvelous place for learning more about plants that thrive in the city.  Should you want to commit some random acts of gardening, these resources are available at the Library:

On Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gardening Without Boundaries by Richard Reynolds

Guerrila Gardening: A Manualfesto by David Tracey

Garden Your City by Barbara Hobens Feldt

City gardening : planting, maintaining, and designing the urban garden by Dierdre Colby