Richard Reynolds spends most of his spare time illicitly planting flowers in public accessible spaces across the capital. He’s a Guerrilla Gardener and does it simply to show that London could be greener.
“Guerrilla Gardening it’s about tending to shabby patches of public land. My garden is in the middle of the road”, explained Mr Reynolds, who’s been guerilla gardening in London for the past twelve years.
After having moved to a flat in Elephant and Castle without any garden or balcony, Mr Reynolds realised that there were several unused public spaces in the area that could easily be turned into green spaces for the local community to enjoy.
Twelve years on, his guerrilla campaign has seen about twenty spaces reforested, from playgrounds to traffic islands, or simply watering tree pits. In some cases, after discovering his green-fingered vigilantism, local councils have given him permission to keep on taking care of the gardens.
Mr Reynolds recalls being anxious about gardening in public when he first started and, therefore, he would mostly do it during the night, but he recognises that that's “quite unnecessary”, since people usually appreciate his efforts. Nevertheless, during one of his gardening interventions, he was approached by the police who threatened his group with arrest.
“I think they were confused, they didn’t believe it and told me to stop it”, he said.
“So I stopped and came back that night and carried on. [As a result], that garden continued to thrive for another seven years until it was swept away as part of the council’s road-widening at Elephant and Castle.”
The Guerrilla Gardening movement has been practised worldwide over the last few decades. On May 1, to celebrate the International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day, people from all over the world will venture out to sow seeds in neglected public spaces.
Mr Reynolds, who works as a communication strategist three days a week, emphasizes that Guerrilla Gardening doesn’t have to be an expensive activity. A lot of the plants come from donations and the group also sells lavender pillows to sponsor their gardening sessions.
“We don’t have to ask politicians and property developers to sort it all out for us. There are some things in our society that we can just get on and do: gardening is a really simple one. It’s pretty fundamental”, he said.
