Guerrilla Gardening: Now This Goes Too Far

I posted earlier about my hesitancy in supporting guerrilla gardening. It’s one thing when a blighted garden is being beautifued without the owner’s permission, especially if the land is public property. But it is a whole other thing to change the garden of someone who is properly maintaining their property. I’m sorry, but this is just plain old vandalism:

This rocks. Sandy, a guerrilla gardener in Portland, Oregon, decided to modify her local Mercedes dealership’s “landscaping” [by making the Mercedes sign into a peace sign]. Possibly the best use of a strategically placed boxwood hedge ever. Love it!

July 10, 2008 | Filed Under Guerilla Gardening | 2 Comments

Is Guerilla Gardening Really That Great?

It seems that one of the newest fads to hit the urban garden scene is “guerilla gardening.” Essentially gardening do-gooders use the cover of darkness to beautify neglected public spaces by getting rid of weeds and planting something else in their place.

The general concensus seems to be that guerilla gardening is the best thing since sliced bread. There is even (or should I say “of course there is”?) a website dedicated to “mobilzing the troops.” While I haven’t totally made up my mind on the topic, the only difference I can find between grafiti and guerilla gardening is that in most cases guerilla gardening is better looking than grafiti. They both are usually done at night. They both involve altering someone else’s property without their permission. They both cost the property owner money to remove. They’re both illegal…

What do you think?