I’m a great admirer of guerilla gardeners and the steps they take to beautify our concrete jungles – well at least I was until a couple moved into MY neighbourhood.
If you can picture a rural setting with tall Peppermint trees and supporting undergrowth merging into suburbia, then you can imagine our little part of the world. It was one of the reasons we bought our house where we did. There are very few estates developed these days that leave tall trees as a feature and strips of open vegetation that have never been tampered with by mankind. And here in bustling Busselton this little oasis survived.
However, some over zealous gardeners have taken it upon themselves to clear up this scraggly habitat and make it – apparently – more visually pleasing. They removed some of the trees on council land and have begun planting “Grandma Plants” in some of the roundabouts. Not that I’m against Grandma plants – just probably not in this setting.
And while these gardeners are obviously quite chuffed with their efforts I have to refrain myself from poking my fingers down my throat. It’s such an abomination. The landscape, while admittedly scraggly and untamed, was as it had been for the past millenia. Completely natural.
Now thanks to these two we are seemingly obligated to be thankful for the effort they are making in beautifying our area. I mean…what can one do? For whatever reason they didn’t like what I enjoyed and I certainly don’t like what they enjoy. It’s like art. The difference being that art can be kept indoors where doors can be shut. Here, it’s all on display whether you like it or not.
And it’s not like I can avoid these areas or close my eyes as I drive from home to work and back. It confronts me everyday and stirs my ire against these so-called guerillas.
How will I resolve this in my own mind? RoundUp™.
I tend to agree that if the area is “natural” that it should remain so.
Roundup?
The nerve of some people never ceases to amaze me. It’s a bit like the way the superintendent of our building deals with the property “landscaping” — lopping off huge branches of otherwise healthy trees, destroying the bit of shade we had from the hottest sun of the day…or “pruning” rhododendrons by feet, because it makes it easier to mow around them. Like the guerillas, he could care less and thinks he’s making improvements, but it raises my BP by several numbers every time I drive in the parking lot or go to an open window. The same, but different, I know. Guerilla gardening should be saved for vacant or abandoned city lots.