The image shows a big yellow skip which has been turned into a flower bed. There are lots of plants and flowers poking out the top. Next to the skip are two people tending to plants and in the foreground there is a person walking past with a yellow dog.
Image credit: Heedayah Lockman. Heedayah says, "This illustration captures guerrilla gardening’s joyful, visible act of resistance. A discarded skip becomes a vibrant planter, showcasing imaginative space reclamation. Community members tend to the patch, demonstrating people-powered change to improve neglected areas and disrupt the city’s grey landscape."

How To

7 min read time

Published Feb 12, 2026

How to start guerrilla gardening

Tips and advice from a nature rights activist on how to transform our cities

Kalpana Arias Written by Kalpana Arias
London, UK

Our How To guides offer practical step-by-step instructions of how best to use your individual actions to contribute to wider movements.

Kalpana Arias offers tips and advice on how to on how to transform our cities through guerrilla gardening and building access to green spaces.

Guerrilla gardening, in its most simplest sense, is the act of planting seeds, bulbs or plants in abandoned or public spaces. It allows plants to grow from the ground up, powered by people, bursting with life, and claiming back the right to grow.

In many places, concrete now outweighs living plants – and as green spaces disappear and streets get hotter, denser, and more grey, picking up a trowel becomes more than a hobby: it’s strategy. 

Resistance is Fertile. Guerrilla gardening might start with individual acts of green fingered rebellion, but its reach goes far beyond flowerbeds. It’s a practical way to take climate action, boost biodiversity, support local ecosystems and wildlife, build community spaces, grow fresh food, clean polluted air, support mental health, and improve neglected areas – all while adding beauty and colour to our daily lives.

Before we get started…

It’s important to understand why guerrilla gardening is needed and what problems it can help address. 

Currently one in seven species in the UK is at risk of extinction. Alongside this, pollinators are declining, air pollution in cities is at harmful levels, and over 2.8 million people in the UK and over 100 million Americans lack access to usable green space. 

And while London looks green on paper, access isn’t equal, and it has only half the green space needed for a healthy population. Meanwhile, cities are getting hotter – and it’s the most vulnerable neighbourhoods that feel it first.

But the solutions don’t have to be big or bureaucratic. A handful of native wildflowers can feed bees. A pocket garden can cool a street. A raised bed can spark a neighbourhood conversation. Every small act shows there’s other possibilities.

Safety Note: Guerrilla gardening is planting without formal permission. Before you start, check the rules where you live – some cities or states have specific regulations around public planting. For minoritised communities, the risks can be higher, so act with care: choose appropriate sites, garden in daylight, and whenever possible, plant as a group to look out for one another. This guide is for educational purposes only – adapt it to your context and use your judgement.

So how do we begin to plant and grow guerrilla gardens in our communities?

The image shows an open palm holding a collection of plants and a yellow question mark sits in the middle

Step 1: Start with why

Before you grab a trowel or find a site, let’s make a plan. What’s bringing you to this moment? Is it a love of plants, a sense of injustice, the urge to reconnect with nature – or all of the above?

This will guide every decision, from what you plant to how you care for your patch. Guerrilla gardening isn’t only about planting; it’s about purposefully disrupting the status quo.

The image shows a brick wall with a collection of plants in front of it. There is a wooden plinth with a collection of plants and a sunflower in the middle.

Step 2: Find a place

The best guerrilla gardening sites are both neglected and nearby. Why? Because they’re easier to care for, easier to access, and often overlooked by everyone else except you.

Start local. Tree beds without flowers. Verge edges full of litter. Planters with nothing but weeds. A wasted patch behind the bus stop. These forgotten spaces are full of possibility.

In the image are two adults and a child looking at a placard which reads Let's Grow Together. The figure on the right wears a long sleeved red shirt and the person on the left wears a long sleeve green shirt.

Step 3: Gather people

Guerrilla gardening is people-powered change…and it spreads! You can absolutely go solo, but many hands make fast work (and way more fun). Plus, doing this together builds bonds, boosts confidence, and deepens impact.

Start by chatting to neighbours, friends, or other community organisers. Look for helpers in local WhatsApp groups, mutual aid collectives, or gardening forums. Or go old school – print a leaflet and drop it through letterboxes. You might be surprised who says yes.

The image shows a patch of soil and five thought bubbles around it with different pictures in them. There are pictures of a bee, some plants and there is a traffic cone on the left.

Step 4: Create a plan

Now it’s time to imagine what your garden could become. Will it be for pollinators? A food-growing hub? A pocket meadow? Your purpose from Step 1 should guide your plan.

But first, get to know your site. How much sunlight does it get? Is the soil crumbly or compact? Is it dry and sandy or rich and fertile? Does it get trashed with litter or sprayed with herbicides? Treat this part like matchmaking. Right plant, right place and you’ll set your plants up to thrive.

In the image there is a yellow paper bag with gardening tools next to tit. There is a spade, gardening gloves and a red watering can.

Step 5: Get the parts

Tools, seeds, and scrappy resourcefulness.

Don’t wait until the morning of your planting action to realise you forgot a spade. Make a checklist of everything you’ll need, then gather it as cheaply and sustainably as possible.

Essentials:

  • Compost (peat-free!)
  • Seeds, bulbs, or plants (local and native)
  • Trowels, forks, watering cans, gloves, plus other gardening tools
  • Bin bags (for litter pick-up and tidy-ups)
  • Water

Looking for free plants?

Propagate from cuttings, ask neighbours for extras, or save seeds from plants already growing near you. Windowsills, community gardens, local nurseries and even edges of parks can offer more than you think.

The image shows a patch of soil with two hands tending to the soil. There is one hand holding with a yellow spade and a green gloves.

Step 6: Do the planting

This is it. You’ve scouted the site, gathered your gear, and rallied your team. Now you get to turn an unused space into something useful, visible, and growing.

Choose a time that works for your group. Water the soil first to make digging easier. Always wear gloves, stay hydrated and have fun getting your hands dirty.

The image shows a yellow glass dome with three small green plants inside.

Step 7: Provide and protect

Planting is just the beginning.

Guerrilla gardening is ongoing work – watering, weeding, watching over the space and speaking up when it’s under threat.

Set up a simple rota to check the garden regularly. Add signs that explain the purpose of the space (i.e. “This is a community garden – please don’t spray” or “Please water me!”). Make it obvious that someone’s looking after the space, even when you’re not around.

Let’s grow!

Get Involved:

  • Incredible Edible – a grassroots food-growing network turning pavements and public spaces into edible commons.
  • SUGi Project – an organisation  building ultra-dense, biodiverse mini forests in cities using the Miyawaki method
  • Right To Grow Learning Network – a campaign working to give everyone (particularly grassroots growers and food justice groups) the legal rights to grow food on public land. It’s big-picture policy, with ground-level impact. 
  • Ubele Initiative – Catalyst for socio-economic empowerment of Black & Brown communities globally!
  • ‘Food In Our Hands’ Movement –  a collective struggle to transform the UK’s food system – from field to fork. They are working to reclaim food as a basic human right and to stand up for the livelihoods of farmers, landworkers and food system workers. 
  • Support the Climate and Nature Bill learn more here and demand real change by signing the petition here.
  • Choose plants that suit your site’s conditions–light, soil, and climate matter: use the RHS Plant Finder
  • Written by Kalpana Arias

    Kalpana Arias

    Kalpana Arias is a guerrilla gardener, technologist, nature rights activist and food grower, writer, speaker and the founder of PLAY, a social enterprise fighting for urban nature. Kalpana campaigns for the right to grow, nature rights and tech for good,  and has spent over 10 years researching how technology and nature can work together. Kalpana is currently an environmental consultant for corporations and governments and works with leading charities, institutions, brands and grassroots change-makers.

  • Illustrated by Heedayah Lockman

    Heedayah Lockman

    Heedayah Lockman is a freelance illustrator and designer based in Glasgow, known for her bright, playful style that brings stories to life with a pop of colour. She mainly works on editorial projects, focusing on lifestyle, politics, and social justice, using art to spark conversation and connection. Over the years, she’s collaborated with clients like Manchester United, shado Mag, and Hachette, adding a fresh, unique touch to their publications.

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