Things to Keep in Mind when Guerrilla Gardening
Okay I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on guerrilla gardening or anything. I'm still a novice at best, a shy little baby who feels awkward scattering seeds when even one other person is on the sidewalk with me. So lets consider this a starting guide, for people like me who haven't done it much before and want to try for the best results quickly.
So, first things first, let's talk about your seeds. Gardeners have got to consider what plants they're growing in their environment, but especially guerrilla gardeners. If someone plants an invasive plant in their backyard, they can attempt to wrangle it or at least contain it to only their backyard. Guerrilla gardeners are gardening out in the open, where things can probably spread even more easily and cause even more problems. Keep in mind that not all nonnative plants are invasive, but also keep in mind that a native plant will be better for your projects/environment than a nonnative one. That being said, if you wanna grow a nonnative noninvasive plant in your guerrilla garden, I'm not going to be the one to stop you, but maybe give it some native friends. They'll be more acclimated to your environment anyhow.
Next, let's consider location! If you're going to be guerrilla gardening, where you do it is of great importance, and may even impact your seed selection. Empty lots, grass along sidewalks, empty tree pits are all popular from what I've seen online. Roadsides can also be an option, as long as you stay safe. Consider how much sun your location gets, does it tend to puddle up with water when it rains, or does it stay dry a lot? Is the soil good, or is it dry and not very fertile? Are there weeds growing, or is it entirely barren? Do you need to clean up some trash before you start planting? Does it get mowed often, by private owners or the city?
Also while you're picking your locations, consider how often you can/would go back to that location, as it might impact how you choose to disperse your seeds. If you can visit it often to weed and amend the soil and whatnot, you can do your gardening differently from someone who can't return often or add to the soil. Also consider that, if you're planning to grow edible plants, you may want to get the soil tested first--as well as avoid planting super close to roadways. Not to say planting near roads is impossible or a 100% bad idea, but consider how such close proximity to cars and all their exhaust and other such things may affect your plants.
Consider the timing. Plants are going to need water to grow, whether you choose to use seeds or transplant seedlings. Take a look at the weather for the next week or so! If it's going to be rainy, you probably won't have to drop by to water it super often--if it's going to be hot and sunny, you might want to go back once every few days at least. Consider what month it is--is it even the right time to be planting the seeds you're planning to plant? Is it too hot, too cold?
At this point you might choose to reconsider what seeds/plants you decide to use for your project, which is 100% fine. Now you also need to consider how you're going to plant them. Depending on how easy the place is to access, you might be able to just plain scatter the seeds--I've just grabbed some from my bag and scattered them with my hands, but I've seen people use salt shakers and even salt guns for this same purpose. (While I'm sharing their links, the tiktok account SFinbloom is pretty rad. bee outfits optional btw) If you want to toss seeds out further, or make sure they don't get eaten by birds, options like seed bombs and seed paper/seed confetti are always good options! Though, I do recommend making these yourself, or at least making sure the seeds in any purchased ones are native to your area/noninvasive. If you don't want to plant seeds, you can always start seeds at your home, or buy seedlings/plants to then transplant in your desired location--this'll likely get you a quicker result!
If you want to cover a lot of ground, or make it more fun, consider recruiting friends! Or maybe meet people on social media and join up to guerrilla garden together! It could be a fun time, and you could make a day of it--grab lunch together while you're out or something. If you want, you could even get reflective vests for yourself/everyone, so it looks like you're working for a volunteer group/the city. It may keep people from asking questions!
About that, also consider that guerrilla gardening is a revolutionary act, and as such, some people may be more opposed to it than others. People may come bug you, and depending on the person, may even try escalating things further. Sprinkling seeds or using seed bombs is less likely to draw attention, but keep this in mind as you go out there.
Once the deed is done, the deed is done! Wait for the rains, or return to your spot and water things yourself! You can do guerrilla gardening in an anonymous sneaky fashion, you can share your progress online, or you can even be loud and proud about it everywhere! That's all up to you, this is just some basic advice I've garnered from online posts.
Feel free to add your own advice as well! And if I said anything incorrect, please let me know!
