Go Guerilla Gardening And Plant Sunflowers

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 119 months ago
Go Guerilla Gardening And Plant Sunflowers

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Contribute a little future colour to your neighbourhood by planting sunflower seeds on International Sunflower Guerilla Gardening Day, on 1 May.

Guerilla Gardening is when plants are cultivated on land the gardener doesn't own, like a roundabout or abandoned site. Some guerilla gardeners have ripped up pavements to reclaim the space, but that's not something we'd advocate (apart from the legal issues, when TfL or the council inevitably replaces the paving slabs, what will happen to your sunflowers?). Probably the most famous guerilla gardening location in London is around Elephant and Castle, where Richard Reynolds and volunteers have created several gardens — including a huge 'lavender field' in a traffic island on Westminster Bridge Road.

If you're quick you can get free sunflower seeds by sending a stamped addressed envelope to Richard Reynolds, 76 Perronet House, Princess Street, London, SE1 6JS. But even if they don't arrive in time for 1 May, is anyone really going to know or care whether you planted them on Thursday or Saturday when the flowers are in full bloom?

If you're not sure how to plant sunflowers, here's a video from 2010 to explain.

Photo by Stephanie Sadler from the Londonist Flickr pool

Last Updated 28 April 2014