November 24, 2010

Library Spotlight - “On Guerrilla Gardening”

The Arboretum Library has books about all kinds of gardens – even those that are about “the illicit cultivation of some else's land”.  That's what On Guerrilla Gardening by Richard Reynolds is about.  Reynold is a London-based guerrilla gardener who shares the history, philosophy and logistics of this special type of garden.  They are gardens that have been cultivated without permission to create beauty or food on unloved land.  
There are two main sections in the book – the first part called “The Movement” discusses a bit about the history of guerrilla warfare in general and how it relates to this gardening movement and its history.  Reynolds also covers what and why people fight when they guerrilla garden.  The second section is “The Manual”, which talks about more practical aspects of guerrilla gardening including plants, techniques and issues that you might run into.
On Guerrilla Gardening is an interesting book that's likely to make you look around your neighborhood a little differently and open your eyes to neglected patches of land and what you can do to improve them.  If you want to learn more, the author's website is http://guerrillagardening.org/ and the LA community board is here.
Find this and similar books in the Arboretum Library here.