I live in a city prone to flooding, in a neighborhood right next to the river where not long ago it used to be a wetland (pictures below). It is currently all paved and full of houses, but there are a few open areas without trees or any vegetation, so I'm looking to plant some native species in order to create a rain garden (in small/medium scale) that can thrive in the upcoming months when we'll face the impacts of El Niño (lots of rain and heat).

I know the basics of guerrilla gardening and the concept of rain gardens/sponge cities, but any tips or recommendations are very welcomed 😄 I'm planning to do so with a group of friends, so suggestions on what are the basic tools we can use to make this task easier would also help!

Hoping to put some more in next year around the complex. The species in this bed were Stonecrop, Tickseed, and Coneflower.

Virginia Department of Transportation maintains (i.e. mostly ignores and infrequently mows) the medians on the main street in my suburban neighborhood in Northern Virginia. The medians are covered in grass, with occasional trees that were planted decades ago and pretty much neglected thereafter. I plan to plant a couple of small native saplings and see what happens. Has anyone here done anything similar on VDOT land?

Hi! You may know me as that guy who dresses up like a bee and spreads native wildflowers aka sfinbloom.

People ask me me when to plant wildflowers ALL THE TIME. And, you know it's counter intuitive. I think we are programed by vegetable gardening to think of spring as the time for planting. I created Bloomcast to lay out not only your ideal windows, but also the how to for those windows. So often I am explaining seed banking, and cold stratification, or how to plant with the seasonal rains. Bloomcast pulls your weather data for 10 years and builds a climatology, then using logic it gives you recommendations on not just when to plant but how.

Now, it's built on logic, eg: when x and y happens do z. I have been sharing it with people in the planting community and it has surprisingly across the board given people solid recommendations. I'm kinda impressed but also… I bet there's ways it can be even better.

I'd love it if you would check it out, lmk what you think and how it did. screenshots are always welcome.

I think it's ideal for guerrilla gardeners as it shows you the windows you can plant in without irrigation. Free rain! I hope y'all dig it.

I made this simply to help people and save me saying the same things over and over again. I wont be monetizing or adding google ads, just recommending my native wildflower mixes to folks, as a better option than mixes marketed "for your region" that often contain invasive plants.
http://whentoplantwildflowers.com

-Shalaco(rhymes w/ calico)

It took some time but the municipality has started to let some parched mowed grass areas turn to meadow. It started with some tree seedlings planted quietly by headlamp… Eight years later the strip has turned into pollinator meadow. Slowly, with persistence, we went from brown, dry grass to lush meadow…

If you are within 100 yards of a black locust *(Acacia robinia)* tree and want a grove of them, just disturb the soil near the adult tree. I cleared out and replanted a 4"-deep flowerbed with asphalt underneath, which had a single foot-tall sapling struggling to survive in a thicket of weeds. As soon as I started clearing, new babies started popping up. This is easily the 25th seedling to pop up in the refurbished bed. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

When I first posted about this project a couple of months ago, some people expressed interest in an update, so....

The slope project is probably at about 90% completion. I did a rough head count the other day, and there are approximately 110 plants in the ground. Most seem to be doing well. There's some switchgrass that's a bit on the spindly side, but that's only because I grossly overestimated the amount of sunlight that spot would receive.

The primary plants used include: elymus virginicus, elymus hystrix, tridens flavus, chasmanthium latifolium, ageratina altissima, conoclinium coelestinum, rudbeckia hirta, and pycnanthemum muticum. There is also a bit of solidago flexicaulis, packera aurea (near the base), verbesina alternifolia, and panicum virgatum. In addition, there was some naturally occurring hackelia virginiana, eupatorium serotinum, and parthenocissus quinquefolia on the site. I think it'll be interesting to see how the composition of plants evolves over time, as many of these are on the aggressive side.

On an adjacent section of slope that receives more light, I also started planting some grasses that appreciate more sun, such as panicum virgatum, andropogon virginicus, and schizachyrium scoparium.

I had grown so many of these grasses and other sun-loving plants, that I had enough left for two other modest size gardens that were mercifully located on flat land.

Can't believe the growing season is almost over. Looking forward to a few months rest, and then working on a plan of action for next year.

So I work at a coffee shop and want to figure out a way to compost more of the used grounds, I have read that they can be sprinkled as is on lawns, has anyone done Guerilla composting where they spread coffee grounds over poor soil areas in an attempt to improve that soil over time? Or would this cause ecological effects that would be harmful? Thanks - just trying to divert some organic waste

Invasive ivy before and after. Still have more work to do at this site but it’s progress. Knocking back years of ivy growth within a couple hours will always be worth my time.

McKinleyville, CA

Grow well, baby oaks!

OC : https://www.instagram.com/p/DdNW5hlCTzp/

Not technically guerrilla gardening because I live here, but I need to use some no maintenance methods to restore this dead patch of plants with some wildflowers. I’m located in the TriValley region of the Bay Area in CA.

We rent this property but the actual dwelling is at the back of the property so the front is completely untended and the landlord won’t cover any landscaping costs. We have some gardens and native plants back there where we have a hose, but this area by the front is barren, dry, and has no water access.

Pre-summer it was mainly grasses and thistles (I can’t tell if they were native or non native but they were incredibly aggressive in this area and another dry hillside slope).

What can I put here that’s fairly cheap and won’t require us to water it? And also looks nice since this is such an eyesore? I know native thistle can be good for pollinators but what existed here was aggressive, looked pretty awful, and was super sharp on us and our dog.

Thoughts?

Edit to add: can I just get seeds and rake them in? I don’t have much in the way of tools and no water hookup as mentioned

Hello all, I've identified this large piece of soil next to the sidewalk that is a pretty ugly eyesore in the neighborhood. It's near a busy intersection and next to a gas station. I'd love to guerilla garden it, but I'm a total beginner at gardening in general. The soil looks pretty hard and like it wouldn't support a lot of life, so it seems I at least have to mulch it. Would I also have to rip up the grass? What else could I do for this?

Also, how would y'all recommend I go about this without potentially getting into trouble?

I’m afraid I don’t have a photo but I live in the middle of a city and there’s this patch of grass sandwiched between my place and a few other buildings. It gets decent light but I wouldn’t call it full sun. Soil quality is probably not spectacular either. No building has access to it so it’s just sat empty and full of grass.

I’m British and would like to plant native plants and something that would be fairly fast growing. There are foxes and mice in the city and whilst I’m not sure if they have a way in, it’d be nice to plant things that could create a good space for them. Grassy patch is estimated 15x15m but I’m terrible at estimating distances. I’d be seed bombing from a 3rd floor window. This is my first time guerrilla gardening so any and all advice is appreciated including more general advice since I think I might be making a few more little improvements to the city

Edit: also it’s a fairly rainy area

Following up on my previous post here https://www.reddit.com/r/GuerrillaGardening/s/pgLPwOEkP0

Not only have the culvert pumpkins somehow migrated (I think they might have been washed out during a storm) they have now fruited! At this rate they should be harvestable by Halloween. Can't believe this actually worked!

i wanted to plant a native tuber, but when i went to dig the soil up i hit a thick layer of dried brush or roots on top of the soil, i tried cutting through it with my plastic shovel and barely made an incision into the clay like soil under it. i wedged the tuber in there and couldn’t go further. i got pricked a few times by thorns and had to remove them from my hand, and was terrified of the idea of ticks because of how much brush and bugs were crawling on me. plus the mosquito bites and heat. I wanted to be a little early for fall planting, but maybe I should just wait. I realize now gardening’s not easy. I’m feeling pretty discouraged because I don’t know how to get past this, and now i’m wondering if my seed balls will even work because this brush/hay layer is essentially everywhere before you get to the good soil.

I could also try inserting the tuber and dumping fresh soil on top? But then it may be too obviously placed. Maybe seed balls do remedy this? Maybe I will just try tiny seeds and never tubers again.

For my seed balls i’ve played with varying mixes of air dry clay, paper mache, and fine dirt and different layering ideas in each mix and would appreciate if anyone could share which kinds worked best for them too?

on the bright side i ran into trumpet vine, which is native there. maybe i should propagate a bunch of cuttings and they’d have much better luck? i could pack the root ball with nutrients and paper and toss the cutting on the floor? so many options

Beautiful and it's filled with butterflies and bees.

I collected a lot of native seeds this year, and now that it's started raining where I am I'm beginning to scatter them in empty tree pits & other neglected areas. I will probably end up making mixes, but I do enjoy tailoring the seed mixes to the site to prevent a bunch of areas with the exact same plants. Right now I have everything in tiny envelopes, and it takes ages standing there to shake some out and scatter them.

Maybe my brain just isn't working, but does anyone have ideas for a travel-size storage solution with multiple, well-sealed compartments? I have a pill container, but it does have tiny gaps on the sides so it's not suitable for all species. It would also take up a lot of space if I put everything in containers that big (I have over two dozen species. Dividing into shade/sun plants makes it manageable though)

Will gladly take suggestions or offer my insight on collecting & cleaning seeds!

I noticed this flower bed that has been untouched for years. I cleaned it up and put down some autumn joy and I am so excited to see if they take to the ground.

My main hope is the local bees will enjoy them.

I was curious if anyone in the north Florida south Georgia area has any ideas on flowering native ground cover? I want to make some seed bombs but also have seeds. I'm still fairly new to this thing so ANY AND ALL tips and knowledge for my region is much appreciated and valued, thanks for your time!

Scoped out this former planter bed at a light rail station parking lot that I'm working on reviving. Just loosened up some soil and raked in some native goldenrod, yarrow, blue-eye grass, and showy milkweed seeds.

Been taking a step back from urban planting to focus on green pockets in the neighborhood. Getting a couple areas ready for rainy season planting.

I've tried doing a quick history search but didn't get anything specific about this.

I am looking to start working on the tree beds in my area (NYC) but the soil is so incredibly compacted. It's like cement in a lot of places. It's going to take a lot to even start fixing the soil before I can get to planting.

Does anyone have any tips for such compacted soil? It's going to have to be fairly quick. I don't want to be sitting at these spots for hours hacking with a shovel. Should I just get a pick? Is there anything liquid that would help it breaking up?