'Guerrilla gardens' bring colour back to shaken city

Dahlias in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Photo / APN

Members of the public have taken it upon themselves to plant flowers around Christchurch to brighten up their city.

A lot of work is being done by organised volunteer groups who have planted seeds, flowers and trees in various spots around the city including parks and properties.

However, other gardens - dubbed guerrilla gardens - have begun to flourish.

They are effectively gardens being planted by people who have not been given permission to do so.

But in a city that has been ravaged by earthquakes, they are being welcomed.

Ruth Gardner, a celebrant who also works with Volunteering Canterbury, says she is proud to say she has done her share of guerrilla gardening.

The Barbadoes St resident said she felt she needed to act after having to look at a large bare section of land on her street where a house once proudly stood.

Last October, she decided to do some guerrilla gardening.

"I just thought it'd be lovely to see flowers rather than just weedy bits of grass in all these empty sections - and we've got so many here."

Ms Gardner has written about her little garden on her blog, Ruth's Reflections.