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As often as he can, Richard Reynolds hits the streets of London to slyly plant, secretly weed, and sneakily leave behind beautiful greenery. Devoted to making his city a more habitable, foliage-friendly place, he is a revolutionary with a water can. And he's not the only one.

Since launching the web site Guerrilla Gardening, Richard has connected with nighttime planters from around the world and appeared in numerous TV and newspaper stories. We reviewed his site in May of last year. Now, Richard tells us how he got started and why the Web itself is like one big "communal picnic."

When did you first commit an act of "illicit cultivation"?

It was late at night in October 2004. The immediate surroundings of the central London tower block that was my home was a horrible horticultural mess, a blot on the landscape and a personal embarrassment. It had been for all of the four months I had known it: overgrown shrubs, piles of litter, dead rose bushes, weeds, and general misery.

During this time the block was going through a difficult patch. The council stepped in to take back control of the building from the imploding tenants management organisation, and whilst observing these civic meetings I concluded positive action would be a lot more effective than conversation. I just started gardening to make me more proud of where I lived, to cheer others up, and to flex my itchy green fingers for the first time since moving in. Read the full profile...