I just gotta get you a spellchecker program!

Anyway, this isn't exactly the same thing, but I have "adopted" parts of my neighbor's yards on all three sides. The guy behind me hired someone to cut down his woods. The guy with the saw didn't stop when he got to the property line, so I figure this neighbor still owes me big time anyway. He paid for some small trees to replace my mature trees, but the small gardenplot I have on his land also provides some reimbursement. I don't think he knows about the garden. It's a vacant piece of land that I've never seen him visit.

I planted an annual bed on another neighbor's property. Makes my property look about 6' wider down that entire edge. And, on the other side, I planted a row of Green Giant Thuja
in that neighbor's yard to block a less than pleasing view.

So far as public lands, I've heard stories of people planting things across the property line on national parks and getting in BIG BIG trouble. If I lived by the Post Office, I'd just have to give it a try. In the case of the Post Office, on the first offense, I believe the most anyone would do is to ask you to remove the planting.

Some people just have to stir things up! Thank goodness for people like you, sdrawkcab!
I think pot growers have been doing this sort of thing for some time, on public and private property! ;-)
Barring illegal or invasive, I can't think of a nicer gift to give the world than more plants and flowers for everyone to enjoy. Who could possibly object! That would be a serious scrooge-type. And I'm hoping (referring back to the last public places post) that I would be able to wrangle a few seedheads and cuttings from said gift-plants? Yippee. I love it.
Now, we are not talking, of course, of some perfectly planned botanical garden right? We are talking parks and public spaces? I can't think of one off-hand that would not be improved by a few flowers in a bare spot!
brandon7 I wish you were my neighbor.

Brandon, how fast have the Green Giant's grown? I've been waiting five years now for our Boxwoods to get high enough to cover a chain-link fence that I detest. I can't get it out of the ground because the posts are set in concrete and even if I did, I'm looking at trying to cut up and haul off almost 3,000 sf of fencing.
I figured I need around 85 trees. The best I can do from a price standpoint seems to be $1,000. I worry more about "cedar" evergreens turning brown and dying. After spending $1,000 I'd hate to lose one or two and have ugly gaps several years into it.
The other thing that makes me worry is 30'-50' tall! If you cut them back at hedge height it kinda defeats the purpose of having a conical tree!
I've been throwing around the idea since about a year after I planted 50 Boxwoods. I don't relish the idea of transplanting those either.
What do you see as the GG's downside?

BOV, Green Giant Thuja are a miracle plant. I guess if there was a downside, it would be that they can grow too large for some applications. They usually grow 2.5' - 5' per year after becoming established and while they are young. Mine are growing about 3' per year. They will eventually grow to over 60' high and 15-20' wide. I planted mine about 6' apart in hopes that when they did start to get big, they would slow each other down just a little. They will naturally slow way down after reaching about 30'. If you decide to use them, buy them small (1 gallon size). The small ones will catch up to bigger ones in just a few years. Make sure they are single leader trees (better snow load characteristics) and not potbound.

Some of the good things about them are...very adaptable, low maintainance, very fast growth, relatively high disease and pest resistance, good performance with snow load, ability to keep green foliage all the way to the ground, evergreen, and did I mention fast growth.

I bet if you decided to get rid of the chainlink fence, you could put an ad in the paper and someone would be more than happy to come and remove it for you for the material.

Hmmmmmm.........

Tricky question.

I myself garden on "public" land -- the strip between sidewalk and street, and the right-of-way between the side of my property and the road (no sidewalk there). But parks?? I don't think so. Wild parks (national parks, and such) are supposed to be just that -- wild, not cultivated. And city parks are already landscaped and maintained by the city.

Now -- an abandoned factory site or long term vacant lot, sure.

Oh, speaking of "stealing" plants -- anyone want some iris? A small office building got torn down recently close to my house, and eventually the iris that were out front will get bulldozed under. I can't grow bearded iris in my yard, but if someone else wants em this is the time to save em. I don't know what color they are, but they are probably nothing too startling. Just let me know if you're interested!

No, it isn't okay to garden on public lands. They're not yours. Just the same as taking things from others' gardens. They're not yours either. Both are disrespectful.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but even after serious thought, I canÂt imagine how growing flowers can be disrespectful. At the risk of sounding like a tree-hugging fanatic (which IÂm not) I have to say that if there is anything disrespectful itÂs how people in general disregard plants. The vast majority of people have forgotten that we as humans just plain out canÂt live without plants. They have no awareness of the balance. And green space is being destroyed every day with few people even noticing. So if a bright spot of flowers (no matter where they come from or are planted, draws the attention of one of those people who has forgotten and maybe, just possibly sparks their interest, what could be wrong with that? So if somebody wants to put forth the effort to plant wonderful plants where everyone can enjoy them, I would call them giving and caring, not disrespectful. And actually the public areas ARE "ours" are they not?

interesting to see peoples reactions-

to clarify, i was not talking about national parks like the GSMNP, rather about small comunity parks and it doesnt have to be formal raised beds it could just be diversifying the wilflowers in areas next to trails etc.

Sugarhill- i am interested in your oppinion but you did not support it with any details; care to elaborate?

and im afraid you missed or misunderstood the previous post about removing plants- i never said anything about taking plants from peoples gardens.

There are a lot of small community parks maintained by individuals or private groups. One that comes to mind is the Agee park before the city started doing something with it.
If I saw a place that I thought needed brightening up, I'd simply ask for permission. As long as you're willing to do it for free, I don't think anyone would object although there might be some insurance concerns.

OK, you said national parks like the Smokeys. Doing that is equivalent to illegally dumping toxic waste. It would be negatively impacting the fragile native ballace of ecosystems (even further than they are already being effected), it would be highly illegal, and if I saw it being done, I would go out of my way to report it in hopes of getting the culprit some jail time.

The supporting detail is that the park doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the community. Once you accept that it is not yours to do with as you please, both guerilla gardening and pilfering are equally wrong.

We really need to fight hard for our national parks. Many people believe that at the way we're headed, we may not have them much longer. The federal government is currently planning to open all national parks including the Smokeys to logging. Major logging operations have recently began in some of our national parks in areas where logging would have never been allowed just a few years ago.

We've already messed up so much of our planet and our country. The parks our among the last places where many species are even able to survive. If we decide not to respect our parks, we might as well just get it over with, blacktop the whole planet, and cook in our own stew.

Brandon7, if i need spell checker, you need reading checker-

"OK, you said national parks like the Smokeys"

what i said was-

"i was not talking about national parks like the GSMNP"

I agree, I do need a read checker. Where can I get one?

I was NOT implying that anyone should try to replant the Smoky Mountains! I love it there and would never see it harmed in any way! I completely agree with brandon7 on that. I was thinking more along the line of some of the small, drab local places that are more like fields of grass and weeds with a rusty grill sticking up here and there, mostly parking lot, type places. Which are we talking about? I'm getting confused.
Would somebody actually go into a National Park and plant petunias? (This IS a serious question). I can't conceive of that and I guess I figure people have a little logic and common sense. Of course I may be wrong on that one.
I am wondering if these 2 related threads are boiling down to law vs. ethics. How far would you go to protect our native plants and natural areas.... law or ethics? How far would you go to make the world a better place... law or ethics? Is anyone else seeing that in this thread or is it just me?

Actually, there are many people out there that would plant stuff on National Park property. Rangers bust surrounding landowners for it all the time, and then there's the pot growers....

If someone was to "improve" a local park where biodiversity and ecosystems were not as critical (already messed up), I guess as long as they actually improved the area rather than made a mess, I wouldn't care. Of course there are also issues like planting invasive plants, other people's opinion of the difference between improvement and mess, maintenance issues, etc. I think I'll limit my guerilla gardening to the neighbor's property.

I've seen programs on Home & Garden TV before that took over small plots of land in cities.

It is my opinion that it would be better to go about this in an appropriate way, by getting the approval of whatever city/county/state government you would need and that it could be very much fun and satisfying. You could turn eyesores into places of peace and beauty for many to enjoy. One of the ones that I saw on tv were maintained by a group of 4th graders. Another was maintained by high schoolers. They all learned a lot and learned to appreciate nature and plants.

Katie