damn them green terrorists...

[Guest guest]

think i sent this before.but...whichever

 

Green-thumbed guerrillas hatching secret plots!

 

By Brendan O'Neill | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

LONDON - In Stratford, in the farthest reaches of East London, a band of

guerrillas has taken over a plot of land. It's the wrong side of 11 p.m. on a

hot, sticky night, the air heavy with rain that refuses to fall. Passersby -

some full of a night of revelry, others only now dragging home from work - gawp

at the guerrillas as they lay claim to a patch ofground at the entrance to a

small block of apartments.

 

" We have reclaimed it from the local government! " says a youthful, ruddy-faced

guerrilla, brandishing his " weapon " defiantly.

 

Another looks out for " the law, " which might decide to barge in and break up

this miniature invasion of one of London's flattest, most featureless suburbs,

better known for having a big train station than for underground activity.

 

What's going on? Why has this bit of East London gone all El Salvador for the

evening?

 

These are guerrillas with a difference. They're " guerrilla gardeners " to be

precise. Their weapons are shovels and trowels, and they plant shrubs and

chrysanthemums, not bombs. They're here to make green a gray patch of land.

 

It's true: If ever two words didn't feel right together, it is " guerrilla " and

" gardener. " The first conjures up images of Che-style idealists with make-do

weaponry and homemade uniforms launching surprise attacks against a hated

government; the second conjures images of the retired middle classes daintily

trimming hedges or adding dashes of flowery color to beloved bits of land in

front of their semi-detacheds.

 

" We like the contradiction in the phrase 'guerrilla gardening,' " says Richard

Reynolds, erstwhile leader of the movement thathe kick-started into existence

two summers ago. Initially it was just him, on his lonesome, carrying out " solo

missions of horticultural regeneration. "

 

" I saw neglected, orphaned land around the dual carriageways [divided highways]

of the Elephant and Castle [a big, smoggy, concrete intersection in London] and

decided to do something about it, " says Mr. Reynolds, an advertising account

planner by day.

 

From these inauspicious roots, the movement has grown exponentially, sprouting

new chapters from Vancouver to Brussels and inspiring more green-fingered

do-gooders to venture out in the dead of night to prettify ugly urban spaces.

 

The movement's aim is simple: to make public space more attractive. Activities

are organized via the website www.guerrillagardening.org. Typically, a resident

who's had enough of living in a cityspace where things are vastly more gray than

green, writes to the site and asks for help. The guerrillas decide which cases

are most pressing, then ready " troops, " and descend on a section of the chosen

spot to sprinkle seeds of hope and regeneration.

 

On this recent night in Stratford, 54 of the " green-fingered terrorists "

(Reynolds's words) are braving the humidity to transform a walled-in garden in

front of a block of flats that hasn't been tended by local authorities for three

years. It could easily, with a bit of TLC, host grass and even flowers. By the

end of night, the guerrillas hope, it will. They are crammed onto the tiny plot,

each digging, weeding, and gravelling.

 

" We're taking responsibility for our city, " says Amy Littler, an actress,

ripping some weeds from the earth. " This is about reclaiming public space. "

 

From whom?

 

" From whoever should be caring for it, but clearly isn't, " she declares. " They

have left bits of the city to go to wrack and ruin, so we are standing up and

saying, 'No, that mustn't happen.' We are bringing beauty back to the city. "

 

This is a truly internationalist guerrilla group: James McMillan, a young oil

company employee now working in London, is from Australia. He's come to

Stratford to " put something back, I mean literally to put something into the

earth of this city. I get a kick from the thought that ... a resident might wake

up tomorrow and think, 'wow, someone cared enough to plant some shrubbery

outside my front door while I was asleep.' "

 

Laura Galea, a Tasmanian studying in London, hopes her stint in Stratford will

" lift someone's spirits. " A group of 15 American Baptists are here to do a good

deed during their tour of London.

 

Guerrillas believe this is as much political as horticultural, that they're

having an impact on society, even rejuvenating democracy. It's reflected in

their language, suggesting they're not only planting shrubs but challenging

authority. Reynolds refers to " sleeper cells " waiting to " blitz our city with

plants. " Their " invasion " of Stratford aims " to create a new democracy of gravel

and sparse ornamental grass, " to " liberate this patch from long-term

miserableness. "

 

Authorities tend to turn a blind eye to the nighttime antics, say experienced

guerrillas. And it's not inconceivable that financially beleaguered local

governments might even be grateful. Residents seem to like the results, but they

aren't quite transformed. Take Frances Barrow, who lives near a

guerrilla-makeover done last month. " Yeah, it looks better, " she says, " I hope

somebody keeps it up. "

 

Yet Karen Campbell, a senior consultant for the Union Baptist Association in

Houston pitching in this evening, sees this as a religious experience: " We are

redeeming a plot of land, and what a powerful metaphor that is - to redeem land

for the good of people. For us, this is very much a Christian act. "

 

As diverse people break dirt together and plant " seed bombs " on what is, in

truth, a pretty insignifi- cant plot,guerrilla gardening can seem as much a

search for meaning as it is an act of charity. It makes Mr. McMillan feel

" useful [and] important " as a break from the office monotony. And for Ms. Galea,

" it is better than just going out and getting drunk, which is one of the only

options for young people these days. This is more enjoyable - and the effects

last longer. "

 

Perhaps guerrilla gardening is a response to the alienation of urban life - the

distance urban residents and workers can feel among the gray monoliths owned

(and neglected) by faceless bureaucrats. Guerrilla gardening looks like an

attempt not only to make cities more colorful, but also to take symbolic

ownership of them and make them more livable.

 

But guerrilla gardners make " a spectacle of civic duty, " suggests James

Heartfield, an urban issues writer. " People are always doing good things that

make their cities nicer places, but they don't necessarily advertise it or

invite the media along to watch. These guerrillas seem to want to make a

statement about themselves and their values, as much as to transform patches of

urban land. "

 

In Stratford, it's now after midnight. The plot is transformed: On a budget of

£264 ($500), weeds have been plucked, a ton of gravel laid, the mud enriched,

shrubs planted - and, if the locals care for them, they'll bloom into full-on

plants and flowers.

 

" Look what we've done.... We've made a small but important difference in a big

city " says Ms. Campbell.

 

It seems that both a patch of land and the guerrilla gardeners themselves have

been transformed by the night's experience.

 

 

What's gonna happen when the buses don't run

and what's gonna happen when the, winter comes

what are you gonna do,

what are you gonna do

when the oil runs out?