Shopping Cart

We want to direct you to the right website. Please tell us where you live.

(This is a one-time message unless you reset your location.)

Available only in Digital (eBook) format.
Choose the preferred format for your device.

(Also available as an audiobook.)
PDF
$19.95 $12.95 USD
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Pub. Date: 2007-04-01
ISBN: 9780865715837
Format: Paperback - 240 pages
Size: 7.5" x 9" (w x h)
BISAC: GARDENING / Urban

Guerrilla Gardening

A Manualfesto

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 approach to urban beautification is spreading to all types of people in cities around the world.

These modern-day Johnny Appleseeds perform random acts of gardening, often without the property owner's prior knowledge or 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 results 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 permission and when to seek forgiveness

Social activists, city dwellers and long-time gardeners will delight in this fast-paced and funny call to arms.

About the Author

David Tracey is a journalist and environmental designer who operates EcoUrbanist in Vancouver. He is Executive Director of Tree City Canada, a non-profit ecological engagement group.



Craft Distilling

Making Liquor Legally at Home

by Victoria Redhed Miller


Microbe Science for Gardeners

Secrets to Better Plant Health

by Robert Pavlis


Advanced Top Bar Beekeeping

Next Steps for the Thinking Beekeeper

by Christy Hemenway


Browsing Nature's Aisles

A year of foraging for wild food in the suburbs

by Wendy Brown and Eric Brown


Seed Libraries

And Other Means of Keeping Seeds in the Hands of the People

by Cindy Conner