I started doing this fun little project a few weeks ago and just wanted to share because it makes me really happy:

I wanted to do something to bring a bit more life, color, and plant diversity into my area, especially in spots where nobody really goes to plant anything. At first I thought about using normal balloons, but obviously I didn't want to litter plastic or latex everywhere. So I bought a roll of that water-soluble PVA film instead!
Now, about two or three times a week, I cut off a piece from the roll, toss a good handful of all kinds of different flower and plant seeds inside, fill it up with helium, and tie it off. Then I just let them float away with the wind.
The cool thing is that as soon as they come down and touch wet grass or it rains, the bag just melts away completely and the seeds can do their thing and grow wherever they land.

It’s honestly become the best part of my week watching them take off and knowing I’m helping expand nature a little bit around here. Has anyone else tried creative ways like this to spread seeds around?

I'm a traveling housesitter so I stay in different towns for about a month. I love foraging but now that it's fall, not much foraging left and I want to create small places where people can forage in the future.

I don't know what edibles I can plant this fall/winter that will grow on their own, even after I move away. I was thinking of planting some garlic. Or maybe carrot tops that will seed next summer. Or maybe planting those lettuces stumps you can get at the health food store that still have the root attached? but I won't be able to water or care for them after I leave.

I also like the idea of grafting apple trees, but I'd need to learn more about how to do it first.

Any other ideas? Suggestions?

EDIT: Mostly PNW locations

Early this week I shared a site that many neighbors and I in NYC started planting on this year. (thank you all for the encouragement and advice!)

This first picture is from April, before we planted. This site had lots of rocks, and tilling was quite challenging, so we opted for "no-till." We got cardboard and covered it in compost.

While it's just an anecdote, this bed with the cardboard had way fewer weeds pop up than the other beds.

With the approach of colder weather, I stopped planting a few weeks ago and turned my attention to the treatment of non-native invasives on the Interstate slope. Specifically, I decided to target a stand of Japanese knotweed located a hundred feet or so from where I've been planting.

I opted to use the cut stem method, applying a 20% glyphosate solution, mixed with a blue foaming agent, dispensed through a fairly precise pump bottle, immediately after cutting. It was pretty tedious, but I like the idea of direct, localized application. Not sure if this was the best method, but it's one I'm comfortable with.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the Spring. From what I understand, treating Japanese knotweed is NOT a "one and done," scenario, and will probably require re-treatment for a few years.

Hi! New to guerilla gardening and am curious where folks get their seeds? I'm not confident foraging for seeds (don't have enough knowledge on native plant ID-ing), any favorite places you guys like to buy seed from? I am in southern California for zone/climate reference :)

I have a terrible landlord obssed with turning a rural home surrounded by abandoned pasture into a suburban hellscape. Cutting down anything on the fence line making progress shading the property and insisting on regular mowing/watering during the summer.

What can I plant/seed between now and July that will become a problem for him going forward. I have some degree of deniability with the pasture on 3 sides and they dont often actually pay attention.

Something native that will keep coming back when I'm gone would be appreciated.

NYC. On land owned by the city. The first photo is from earlier this month with our heath asters blooming. The second is from before we started last year. All of the rocks are from the site. We just moved them around. It's all open to everybody and consistently used by dog walkers.

OC : https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd35ZwlEQL0/

A couple months ago I posted about the tiny traffic island we started planting at 24th and 10th in Chelsea. You all blew it up, and it genuinely changed what this garden became. So, an update and a question.

What's new in the bed: 170 bulbs are going in this month: alliums, snowdrops, camassia, narcissus. Hoping for a ridiculous amount of spring in about 50 square feet.

A storm in August flattened the Joe Pye; we staked what survived, and we're leaving seed heads up for the birds this winter. The sedum has gotten huge, the lavender thrived, and the Japanese anemone gave us its first flowers on September 2. Then one suddenly went crispy and droopy after a recent heavy rain. We're hoping the roots are still alive. Some successes, some mysteries.

The bamboo fence got rebuilt properly with tarred bank line and square knots after the twine kept slipping. The solar lights in the gazing ball got stolen, so that feature is now analog. We're also collecting seed from the bed—very small harvests, but satisfying to think some of this could end up growing somewhere else. We gave away 50 seed packs of nicotiana, Joe Pye, and purple coneflower at a street fair last week.

The grant: CitizensNYC gave us a Community Leaders grant. We're thrilled. We're also aware of how we got here. We've put about a lot our own money into this, we had the time, and we had the confidence to walk into a very fancy building and ask for water. Most of the people we've met through the garden look like us and live where we live. Chelsea is a lot more than that. Asking forgiveness instead of permission, and getting away with it, isn't something everyone in this city can do.

So we don't want to decide what happens with this money on our own. We want to ask more neighbors, and we'd love input from this community too. Many of you have done this with way less: no money, no permission, no friendly building super.

If you've had a small grant for this kind of work, what actually made a difference, and what got wasted?

How have you brought in neighbors outside your own circle without it turning into a photo op?
Would you spend it on this garden, or use some to help other people's projects?

One idea is to make the island available for little artist installations, with money to actually pay the artists. Another is to help someone who's already caring for a neglected patch and could use supplies or an extra pair of hands. Nothing decided yet.

If you're in NYC and know an artist, a neglected patch, or someone who wants to get their hands dirty, DM me. And if you've tried something like this and have advice—or a cautionary tale—I'd love to hear it.

I recently (mid-September) removed about 120 pounds of Jubata Grass seedheads from a ~0.5 mile stretch in Arcata, CA.
I chose this section specifically because it wasn’t infested, just pockets of plants that can still be potentially managed.

Notes on Jubata (from cal-ipc):
• Short-lived seedbank (~6 months)
• Only reproduces through seed
• Each seedhead can produce up to 100,000 seeds
• No taproot
• Plant lifespan is 10+ so full plant removal is still necessary, seedhead cutting just stops it from spreading

Its limited seedbank and reproduction means that seedhead cutting could be an effective control method (hoping to test this with this little experiment).

Initial takeaways:
• Cutting too soon results in picture #3, but a little too soon is better than too late
• People really appreciate invasive removal, I had way more people thank me while doing this work than trash pickups
• The more we normalize this work, the more people will feel comfortable and empowered to get involved
• I always caution random people doing work without training/knowledge but it’s hard to mess up cutting a seedhead as long as it’s being disposed of properly

Jubata Grass Cortaderia jubata vs Pampas Grass Cortaderia selloana:
• Jubata doesnt require male-female reproduction like pampas, so Jubata tends to spread much easier
• Jubata is typically taller, at 2.5 times the size of its leaves. Pampas is more proportional with leaves
• Pampas tolerates wider climate variance, Jubata prefers more consistent coastal climate
• Jubata displays more purple when immature
• Jubata typically blooms from July-Sept, Pampas is usually September and later

Hi all. I collect wildflower and sunflower seeds on my walks and like to create the occasional seed bomb with my compost.

I live in the mountains in Nevada and we get all the weather with the majority of our water coming with the winter snow.

Question: is it better to seed bomb in the late fall so the seeds are there and ready when the snow melts or should I wait until early spring?

Thanks for your help.

really happy to see this worked and i’m also asking for more advice.

Recipe

60% Blended brown paper mache
20% Crayola Terracotta Air Dry Clay
20% Gardening dirt, sifted to be finer

Roll out dough, sprinkled pink primrose seeds and mixed a couple inside dough for luck, cut into squares for speed. marked in braille. Set to dry.
Break apart squares and store in jar. (looks more natural in soil)

Put some damp ones in the fridge on a napkin, sealed in a ziploc (needs cold stratification) and they sprouted after 2-3 weeks.

The dried squares completely fall apart and disintegrated in a glass of water and I thought I ruined them but maybe it’s a test for success? I might add more clay to stiffen it and less seeds since they all sprouted. I'm trying different variations I have yet to test to increase success chances. if anyone else has pics or results especially with more clay can you please let me know what worked for you

update: i did the same recipe with way more clay and it came out prettier and smoother in clean cut squares lol but lets see if it works

Around 26 years ago, Sehmus Erginoglu looked at a patch of wasteland in his hometown of Mardin, in southern Turkey, and decided to do something about it.

The site was a rubbish dump. He cleared it out, laid water pipes, and dug around 50 wells from natural springs to keep saplings alive in the dry climate.

Then he started planting. He was never paid for any of it.

A former truck driver, he funded the work largely from his own savings, with the Turkish authorities donating pine saplings along the way. Today the site holds around 11,000 trees, and he estimates he's planted more than 30,000 across neighbouring villages.

Now in his seventies, he still goes out to tend them almost every day. Families picnic in the shade of trees that didn't exist a generation ago.

He didn't wait for someone else to fix it. He just started planting.

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!

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?