Everyone has heard of street art at this point. Recently some artists have taken graffiti to the next level by using moss instead of spray paint.
Unlike the traditional method of spray painting, the public is usually delighted to find these works. It is a clever way to brighten up public spaces.
Moss can be applied to a stencil on a wall with a paint brush as well as organic ingredients for the moss to eat, like yogurt, beer or sugar water. The results are breathtaking, in fact moss stencilers like Anna Garforth and Edina Tokodi are getting paid for their green graffiti these days. More on that here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/moss-graffiti-street-art-eco-friendly_n_1418247.html#s862880&title=Anna_Garforth_
It may surprise you even more to learn that these ladies are not the first green street artists to go guerrilla. Guerrilla gardening, in which bare pieces of public land are spruced up with new greenery by illicit gardeners, sometimes overnight, has been around for a while now. The term was coined in 1973. A famous example would be such as Peoples Park in Berkeley, California, which was planted by protesters in the late sixties.
According to the people at http://www.guerrillagardening.org these are a few tips for would be guerrilla gardeners.
1. Keep your eyes open for orphaned land. Come back in the middle of the night to spruce it up.
2. Have a plan. You don’t want to fail because of poor planning.
3. Find a cheap supply of plants. Garden centers throw out plants daily.
4. Choose hardy plants that won’t require constant upkeep. You may have to come back to water them later.
5. Wear water proof shoes.
6. Use “seed bombs” in hard to reach spaces.
7. Remember to use organic fertilizers to nourish your plants.
8. Leave a unique calling card to help spread the word.
Elizabeth de Moya lives near San Diego, CA. She volunteers for the birds, and she works at the zoo. She is going back to school to study pre veterinary medicine. She has a BA in Linguistics from UC Berkeley.