No ordinary guerrilla gardener, Steve Wheen chronicles his efforts in an interview last April with UK’s Metro:

“I’m a mad keen gardener but I live in a small flat without a garden,” said Mr Wheen, from Shoreditch, east London.  “I also wanted to make a point.  As a cyclist I find potholes a constant menace.  I have almost come off my bike several times.  And the roads are in the worst state I have ever known in London because of the snow this winter.”

“I choose smaller roads or pavements with potholes and work early morning or evening so that I don’t get run over while gardening.  I prefer to use low plants with bright, colourful flowers in the hope that motorists will see my gardens and avoid them.”  But he admits that his colourful work often falls victim to traffic in the capital.

“My very first effort only lasted two hours before it was destroyed. They have a short life,” he said.  “And the longest any of my gardens has survived is three weeks so far.  But, if I can draw a cyclist’s attention to a pothole so that they don’t hit it, and put a smile on their face, that is enough for me.  Now I can’t stop looking at potholes wherever I go.”

Delightful with a quirky twist to the “growing a timeless garden” tradition.  Not expected to last, but a momentary glimmer of an idea.  Steve Wheen’s garden’s may be akin to a whimsical, possibly laugh-out-loud version of sand castle building just as high tide is about to arrive.  However, they’re a creative response to London’s pothole problem and, even better, offer a welcome element of surprise.  An experience every garden designer hopes to create in the landscape, here it just happens to be a city.  Even more reason for captured curiosity.  A bit of life and vibrancy found unexpectedly while traversing an urban hub can put a smile on almost anyone’s day.

To read more about Steve and his latest escapades, go to his blog:  http://thepotholegardener.com/