Guerilla Gardeners

Comment by teesleberry on July 16, 2009 at 2:37pm

Found you by way of the D.C Gardening Group on Yahoo! So this is a new group. Any ideas on the first project?

Comment by Riley Hamilton on July 16, 2009 at 4:00pm

Great to have you aboard. I think the first thing we need to do is build up our supplies. Does anybody have any supplies, tools or techniques that have worked for them in the past. Also looking for ideas of where to start greening.

Comment by teesleberry on July 16, 2009 at 4:09pm

I have your standard garden supplies, like trowels and rakes and shovels and such. I live in the suburbs but am dating someone in the city, so I can haul lots of stuff in my car. If we get a project idea underway, I'd be happy to solicit area nurseries for free plants. Landscape companies are good for this, too. They often switch out their designs for office buildings and such. I believe most of those plants get thrown away.

I've done some research on this and it's strongly suggested that native plants be used. Also super hearty plants that don't require constant maintenance. Around here, we need drought-resistant plants. We also need to consider how trafficked the area is. If we're doing a sidewalk-cutout, for example, we need things that can take a beating and keep living.

Comment by Lolly on July 16, 2009 at 7:31pm

i'd like to paricipate. i want more sunflowers and edibles everywhere.

Comment by teesleberry on July 17, 2009 at 11:29am

I'll be out and about this weekend, so I'll scope some areas that could use some TLC. I'll be around U Street, Dupont, etc.

Let's start small for our first project. In the reading I've done, stealthy gardening like this requires some serious planning. We have to bring our own water, for example. We can't tap into people's hoses or hydrants on the street. So once we identify where we want to "attack," we'll need to figure out what supplies we'll need to bring with us.

This is super exciting! I love the idea of transforming our city by stealth!

Comment by gnarlyDORKETTE on July 18, 2009 at 9:38pm

Hiya all!
I live over in the H Street Corridor, especially on the 8th street.
I have a backyard that receives full sun, so if you need a spot to grow your sun-loving plants, bring 'em over here!
Unfortunately the backyard is also chockfull of clay soil so I got flower pots... I aim to start composing to amend the clay soil, but I do need help here because there are too many ways to compost and I don't know which one is the most effective for my backyard. Help???

Right now I am actively seeking all "unwanted" plants/flowers, seeds, soil, or pots from Freecycle, so I am stacking up all needed materials/equipment especially for guerrilla gardening.

Tools I have: a shovel and a brand-new pitchfork (I bought this so I can dig out the clay soil to add in organic matters), two pairs of working gloves, ....numerous of flower pots (the plastic kind)....

Plants I have: mint (they spread like crazy, so I am hoping this will work for my garden), basil (this poor herb is struggling to grow in my yard), daylilies, and an unidentified plant-- no flowers). I am hoping to nurse a datura moonflower on the loan from another guerrilla gardener who doesn't have a yard.
For watering the garden, I use the water in a tub that catch all dripping water from a pipe that stuck out of my apartment house, so you don't have to worry about wasting water in my back yard

Looking forward to hear from Teesleberry for the "spy report"... ;-)

Comment by teesleberry on July 22, 2009 at 11:36am

Hey guerrillas! I was out and about this weekend and saw TONS of places that we could hit. Does anyone have a preference for which part of D.C. to work in? I spend the majority of my time along U Street and then out towards Dupont and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Comment by Mr Sedum on July 23, 2009 at 11:36am

Hi everyone. I have been working at the Virginia Avenue Park in Capitol Hill Southeast for the last three weeks. The Parks Department has planted the area just outside the community garden plots with rose bushes and other plants. The area was never maintained. It was overgrown with wild trees, weeds and vines, and so I have been clearing the weeds and planting some sedum plants. This is park land, and hundreds of gardeners pass right by the overgrown area on the way to their own garden plots, but they haven't done anything to maintain the area. So, I work there on weekdays, during my lunch breaks. If anyone wants to help out, here are the directions. From the US Capitol/Eastern Market: head east on Pennsylvania and make a right on 8th Street SE. Go four blocks; after passing US Marine Barracks, you'll go underneath a freeway overpass. Take the next left on Virginia Avenue. The park is straight ahead. Pass the community gardens and follow the sidewalk to the rose bushes.

I noticed that the small park outside the Eastern Market metro station has similar problems: rose bushes planted, but no maintenance or weeding of any kind. Thousands of people walking in and out of the metro station, and nobody does anything to maintain the plants.

Comment by teesleberry on July 24, 2009 at 11:26am

Hi Mr. Sedum! Thank you for the invitation! I am only in the city on the weekends, so any help I can give would have to be then.

My boyfriend sent me an interesting link today: http://posterpocketplants.blogspot.com/. This is a great idea for some super easy guerilla gardening "on the go!"

Comment by gnarlyDORKETTE on July 25, 2009 at 1:10pm

I am gonna add Mr Sedum's comment to "Spy Report" on the discussion board so if any of youse know more spots around the city that you notice that needs TLC aswell, post there!

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