As twilight settles and the roads clear, the guerrilla gardener strikes again

Fifteen years ago, Richard Reynolds decided he was going to beautify his neglected local greenery. Little did he know it would spark a global movement. David Barnett goes undercover with the guerrilla gardeners

Reynolds has tackled urban eyesores in more than 40 locations (Richard Reynolds)

In 2004, Richard Reynolds was living in a flat in London’s Elephant and Castle. Several storeys up, he didn’t have a garden, of course, which was a source of disappointment to him, if completely understandable given the location. But more irritating was the fact that the communal areas around his block were somewhat unedifying as well.

“To be honest, they were a complete tip,” recalls Reynolds. “I would look down on them and they would be overgrown, full of dead planting, choked with litter…”

The local authority seemed to have little interest in brightening up the verges and tiny squares of green surrounding the tower blocks. So Reynolds decided to do it himself. He went out to one tiny patch of land and tidied it up, planting it with flowers.