Guerrilla Gardeners

Gardening illegal? Cultivation a crime? While it may not carry hard time, a growing group of people will tell you that their horticultural efforts are not always appreciated. They call themselves guerrilla gardeners, and they make it their sworn mission to beautify urban spaces. This trend, which is spreading around the world, involves finding a neglected patch of urban space, whether it's an abandoned lot or a traffic island, and landscaping it with flowers or other plants.

GuerrillaGardening.org offers an excellent, and quite entertaining, account of the efforts of one group centered in London. With before and after pictures, they proudly display the results of their labor. Their "missions" do not always go smoothly. Believe it or not, they do have their occasional run-ins with the law, and have had to retreat on occasion. This does not deter them, however. They often carry out their missions at night to avoid prying eyes. They have even, as you can see in their blog, gone so far as to dress up as municipal workers (reflective jackets, etc.) to avoid suspicion. 

Regardless of others' opinions, guerrilla gardeners are stubbornly sure of the moral correctness of their actions. And really, it's hard to argue with the argument they make. All they aim to do is make their hometown a better place to live, and ask for nothing in return. Technically speaking, what they are doing might be frowned upon by the law, but I hope that more law enforcement officials will look the other way in the future as these urban warriors do their thing. Check out some of the many pictures that people all over the globe have posted online, and I think you'll agree that these people are doing nothing wrong.