Guerilla gardening: did you ever just have to take care of plants that weren't yours?

[Tommyotommy]

I wish my local garden center would do that. I hate seeing the plants that are near death but could be saved with a little TLC sitting in the trash.
Walmart just sees neglected plants as damaged merchandise and throws them out. If they marked them down, I'd buy some and try to nurse them back to health.

I mostly use Wal-Mart when I need garden soil.... and more so home depot. Mom and pop nursery can't compete with their prices for that. Fertilizer and insecticide too.

 

[Philphine]

i've never done it, but i have wondered about adding plants on property that isn't mine.

the cheap fruit trees mentioned in a few otther threads. i sometimes wonder if i got a couple when they got down to the couple dollar range, if i could plant them along the local riverwalk. there are already a few wild mulberry trees and some blackberries (cut back pretty far since they're thorny) that it's nice to pick a few from along the way. be even better if there were more and various other things along the way.

in fact seeing this topic made me send an email to the mayors feedback site to ask.

shhhh.... i did it.

so far they haven't been cut down. they've been messed with a little, but all are growing.

i caught lowes sale and got 11 trees for about $5 each, plus one i got somewhere else. i figured i'd try to plant them in out of the way spots early in the morning, thinking if no one sees me do it, the people who cut the grass will just assume whoever plants the trees (if they're not the same people) planted them and leaves them alone. i also figured if other people didn't see me, they'd leave them alone thinking they would be vandalising city property, plus if other people got the idea and too many got planted (or someone got too bold and stuck one in the middle of the great lawn or something), the city would take more notice and cut them all down. the last set i even planted in the rain so there was even less chance of people being out on the path to see me.

so i planted four apple trees july 4th weekend, 4 plums about a week or two later, then 4 pears around august (prettymuch what lowes had) at various points along the riverwalk. the nearest point of the walk is maybe 10 or so miles from my home, so i depend on rain and try to get back and water them if there's a long period bettween showers. i think if they make it to winter they'll thrive.

i don't know if anyones even seen the apple trees. they were in the best spot as far as hiding them right by the path. the plums were pretty well hidden too, but they eventually cut the grass near them and cut around them (i was so happy about that). the pears are kind of out in the open and have been messed with some. i think one may be too damaged to keep growing, but i'll have to see. otherwise the grass cutters cut around them too so that part is good.

i'm looking at 3 more spots (one for a willow though. i just like the idea of a big willow in this particular spot) for cherries and peaches. the other fruits lowes gets in every year. they're even more exposed though so i'll need to be feeling bold and try to find the best day to try and do them as inconspicously as possible. and i've alread brought one peach tree (one of those super sweets. went ahead and paid full price 'cause i really wanted one) and really trying to pay attention so i don't miss the clearance when it happens.

so maybe in 5 or years, if they all get a chance to grow, you can ride along the path and stop to pick a fruit along the way.

 

[Mockingbird]

I fuss with plants where I work all the time. I have not added any yet, but I have split and moved plants. I don't mess with things on other peoples property to much, I think people out here would get upset. I do take care of the side of my neighbors house that is along my drive, I rake and weed that. I also trim the bushes there more so that they don't scratch the cars pulling in and out.

One place I do offer services is the cemetery. Any cemetery. I have put stones back up, cleared markers and pulled out weeds. Sometimes I think maybe the family has all died out. For whatever reason no one services the headstones. I have never planted a plant at the site but I have watered urns.

 

[ACSAPA]

I fuss with plants where I work all the time. I have not added any yet, but I have split and moved plants. I don't mess with things on other peoples property to much, I think people out here would get upset. I do take care of the side of my neighbors house that is along my drive, I rake and weed that. I also trim the bushes there more so that they don't scratch the cars pulling in and out.

One place I do offer services is the cemetery. Any cemetery. I have put stones back up, cleared markers and pulled out weeds. Sometimes I think maybe the family has all died out. For whatever reason no one services the headstones. I have never planted a plant at the site but I have watered urns.

It's really kind of you to take care of headstones and cemetery plots. Most people wouldn't go out of their way to do that for strangers. You must have some good karma coming your way.

 

[Pat]

When I see a plant at the store that needs care usually I will purchase it take it home and give it some love and tender care.

 

[Cereus]

Personally I've often purchased distressed plants from various nurseries, but never have rescued other people's plants. Some have been harder than most to rehab, but I got them for extremely cheap because nobody else wanted to take the time to nurse things back to health. There was an older gentleman who often pruned cherry trees in a city I worked at. The city didn't take care of them even though they were considered city property. The trees were donated as a gift years ago and the city stopped caring for them so he took it upon himself to do so. They're really gorgeous trees and lovingly cared for.

 

[js85]

I'm renting property currently and it came with pear, apple, and mulberry trees. I didn't take advantage of the pears as I should have (they were much harder than I know of pears, so I thought they were no good until I learned that they could be a variety meant to be harder for baking/cooking), but I sure took advantage of the mulberries! I also didn't care for the apples as they were overtaken by scary black hornets -- so I allowed it as a peace offering.

 

[Shimus]

Answer is yes. I just responded in another thread specifically talking about my experiences with ignorant kids and how they'd rip up gardens along the sidewalk. I'd help their owners replant and tell them about some local fencing/and plastic domes that they could acquire to block out the stupid youth.

Aside from that, I'll take care of anything that looks savable, mine or not. Most people think I'm yanking their garden up or being invasive but if I see green dying, I can't help it.

 

[headfullofbees]

My mate Arthur has the allotment opposite me.
His Brussels sprouts weren't doing so well, and one day when he wasn't there, I gave them some of my actively aerated compost tea and home-made seaweed extract.
He's been taking sprouts home every week since October, and he's STILL eating them.
I'm going to have to tell him at some point, because I can see he's bemused at such a better crop than he usually gets.

 

[Shimus]

Haha, Head. That sounds like a recipe for a good joke, if you formulate it well~

I just wonder if he hasn't already noticed it a bit or at least expected it.. yet. They don't just mystically get better... or do they?

 

[marlingardener]

I don't mess with other people's gardens and plants, but I do try to help them understand how to care for their own.
I've done enough public land tending as a Master Naturalist, and learned that getting a club, school class, or other organization involved in a small plot of land usually works wonders for the plants, and helps the people,too!
I have some weeds, and some plants (annuals) reach the end of their life span during our Texas summer, but if I catch anyone "helping" in my gardens, they get chased off. My husband says when I'm guarding our plants I make a werewolf look like a cute little puppy!

 

[Donatello]

A friend from church goes on vacation every summer for two weeks and asks me to water her garden . She has me pick all the ripe tomatoes, okra, peppers and squash. i bag them up and take them to church for folks there.

 

[MarineWife]

LOL while waiting in a dr's waiting room I couldn't resist not picking off the dead leaves from their plant.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

My friend lives in in Kennington, pretty much central London, where a Rasta man has taken over a strip of disused land beside a hoarding and grew beans and tomatoes on it last year, something else grew in the middle of the circle of tomatoes too, five feet or so from the busy sidewalk.

 

[Ginger with Roots]

Years ago we rented a house while building our new home. I definitely left the yard looking better than I found it. I couldn't stand the sad empty beds in front and added some annuals for color (with permission of course).