Guerrilla Gardening By Bicycle in Holland
January 7, 2014 by Robin Plaskoff Horton
The Dutch love gardening as much as they love cycling. So it makes sense that friends Mathieu Halkes and Olaf Lemmers combined their mutual passions for the two, blending urban gardening and cycling with another of their interests: guerrilla gardening.
The two began guerrilla gardening by bicycle and planting bike gardens in public spaces.
Crated Gardens
Last spring, the young men equipped their bicycles with wooden crates which they’d filled with soil, daffodils, pansies, and other plants and flowers they’d purchased from their local urban garden center in Utrecht.
With materials in tow, they rode together to a city parking lot where they planted some mini gardens. Each little garden also sported a little flag mentioning their blog, Tuin & Balkon (Garden and Balcony), along with a nice spring message for other bike owners, “Spring is in the air, enjoy the ride!”
“We’d had a long and cold winter, so we wanted to give people an instant happy spring feeling when they returned to their bicycle from a day of work or a long train travel,” Halkes told me.
Two Urban Gardener Bloggers
Halkes maintains a back and front yard urban garden in Utrecht, while Lemmers gardens five floors up on his rooftop terrace in Amsterdam. In their quest for cool garden and balcony ideas to write about, the two say they find all kinds of things they would love to have some day when they have an acre plot to garden. “But until that time,” explained Halkes,”we write about gardening on a smaller piece of land, sometimes on wood or concrete. Simple right?”
Documenting Guerrilla Gardening Exploits
In another one of their guerrilla gardening exploits, Halkes and Lemmers placed some of their planted bike crates around their local garden shop, then videotaped people’s responses. “People in the city got really cheerful when they saw us putting gardens on bicycles,” the duo noted, “and some passing cyclists shouted from their bikes that they wanted one as well!” So you see the impact guerrilla gardening efforts can have, right?
They expanded their efforts by planting more mini-gardens in bike crates at the central train station of Utrecht. There was no shortage of bikes to plant at the station, where thousands of people park their bicycles to commute by train.
Sunflowers Everywhere!
Halkes and Lemmers have also become participants in International Sunflower Day, a global guerrilla gardening event that takes place every year on May 1. Since 2008, people from all over the world have participated in the action after guerrilla gardeners in Brussels decared it the day for people everywhere to plant sunflower seeds on disused public city plots. Famed British guerrilla gardener, Richard Reynolds of guerrillagardening.org, began promoting the effort in the hopes that it would, he said, “bring beauty and health to our neighborhoods.”
Photo by Jonna Rotterdam Quacker via guerrillagardening.org.
Last year, Halkes and Lemmers distributed 1000 free sunflower seeds by bike. This certainly got me thinking about planting sunflowers on May 1. What about you, any ideas?
Unless otherwise noted, all images via Tuinenbalkon.
Category: Container Gardening, Creating, Green & Sustainable, Guerilla Gardening!
Tags: bicycle gardens, bike gardens, cycling guerrilla gardeners, Dutch bike garden, urban gardening
Enjoyed this post? Subscribe to Urban Gardens!
share | 
e-mail a friend | comments (31)
Love this! Can’t complain about people their green thumbs, especially on bikes! Well done, Holland!
— January 8, 2014 @ 14:12
Flowerona Links: With floral headdresses, bicycles & a flower wall... | Flowerona Pingback said:
[…] Guerilla gardening by bicycle in Holland […]
— January 11, 2014 @ 20:02
Urban Gardening: nesmysl a módní výst?elek? | Groowl Blog Pingback said:
[…] výsadby v nepoužívaném nebo nevzhledné ve?ejném prostoru. Nás nap?íklad zaujala jedna realizace z Holandska. Dva mladíci sedli na svá kola, do košík? naložili jarní kv?ty a vydali se svým projektem […]
— April 9, 2014 @ 19:36
Reclaimed Boat Sails Upcycled as Portable Planters - Urban Gardens Pingback said:
[…] a table, be moved to the window to chase the sunlight, or cruise the city on the handlebars of a bike. Planted on just one side, Nomad (or several of them) can hang on the wall creating a simple […]
— December 14, 2014 @ 18:05
This site is always a great place to learn new ideas and skills. Thanks for sharing your insights with us.
— March 3, 2025 @ 05:52
I always look forward to reading your blogs. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us.
— March 3, 2025 @ 11:33
Vibracion del motor Dispositivos de balanceo: esencial para el operación uniforme y eficiente de las maquinarias. En el entorno de la innovación avanzada donde la eficiencia y la seguridad del sistema son de gran trascendencia los dispositivos de balanceo desempeñan un rol esencial. Estos dispositivos especializados están concebidos para ajustar y estabilizar componentes móviles ya sea en maquinaria industrial transportes de transporte o incluso en dispositivos domésticos. Para los técnicos en reparación de aparatos y los técnicos utilizar con aparatos de balanceo es fundamental para promover el operación estable y fiable de cualquier aparato dinámico. Gracias a estas soluciones innovadoras innovadoras es posible reducir significativamente las movimientos el estruendo y la carga sobre los cojinetes mejorando la duración de piezas caros. También importante es el tarea que juegan los aparatos de equilibrado en la soporte al consumidor. El soporte técnico y el mantenimiento regular empleando estos aparatos permiten brindar prestaciones de alta calidad mejorando la agrado de los usuarios. Para los responsables de empresas la contribución en unidades de balanceo y dispositivos puede ser importante para optimizar la eficiencia y desempeño de sus equipos. Esto es particularmente trascendental para los empresarios que manejan pequeñas y intermedias organizaciones donde cada detalle importa. Asimismo los aparatos de calibración tienen una amplia aplicación en el área de la prevención y el supervisión de nivel. Habilitan identificar eventuales fallos previniendo mantenimientos costosas y averías a los dispositivos. Incluso los indicadores generados de estos equipos pueden usarse para optimizar sistemas y incrementar la visibilidad en buscadores de búsqueda. Las sectores de uso de los dispositivos de calibración cubren variadas industrias desde la manufactura de bicicletas hasta el monitoreo de la naturaleza. No importa si se refiere de grandes fabricaciones productivas o modestos establecimientos domésticos los sistemas de equilibrado son indispensables para garantizar un rendimiento productivo y libre de fallos.
— March 4, 2025 @ 09:33
Your writing creates vivid visuals, effortlessly bringing every detail to life. I can immediately visualize everything you portray.
— March 8, 2025 @ 08:54
Your knowledge stands out in this piece; I’m awe-inspired.
— March 15, 2025 @ 15:53
I love the actionable steps you’ve provided; it makes implementing your recommendations easier.
— March 16, 2025 @ 05:43
alo789 dang nh?p: alo789in – alo789 chinh th?c
— March 21, 2025 @ 17:39
trustworthy canadian pharmacy: Cheapest online pharmacy – best canadian pharmacy to order from
— March 24, 2025 @ 02:02
pharmacy rx world canada: certified canada pharmacy online – canadian pharmacies online
— March 24, 2025 @ 03:14
lowest prescription prices online india: india pharmacy without prescription – india online pharmacy store
— March 24, 2025 @ 08:23
India Med Fast: order medicines online india – lowest prescription prices online india
— March 24, 2025 @ 08:36
canada online pharmacy: Pharmacies in Canada that ship to the US – precription drugs from canada
— March 24, 2025 @ 13:59
Mexican Pharm Inter: MexicanPharmInter – Mexican Pharm Inter
— March 24, 2025 @ 15:04
india online pharmacy store buying prescription drugs from india online pharmacy india
— March 24, 2025 @ 18:47
buying from canadian pharmacies: Online pharmacy USA – legal canadian pharmacy online
— March 24, 2025 @ 19:38
canada pharmacy: canadian drugstore online no prescription – canada pharmacy world
— March 24, 2025 @ 21:57
safe online pharmacies in canada: Certified International Pharmacy Online – canadian pharmacy oxycodone
— March 25, 2025 @ 02:42
lowest prescription prices online india buying prescription drugs from india order medicines online india
— March 25, 2025 @ 05:53
reliable canadian pharmacy reviews: online canadian pharmacy no prescription – reputable canadian online pharmacies
— March 25, 2025 @ 09:12
Mexican Pharm International: reliable mexican pharmacies – mexican pharmacy online store
— March 25, 2025 @ 10:11
mexican drug stores online mexican drug stores online mexican pharmacy online order
— March 25, 2025 @ 17:43
india online pharmacy store: buying prescription drugs from india – india online pharmacy store
— March 25, 2025 @ 17:57
canadian pharmacy drugs online: fda approved canadian online pharmacies – canadian pharmacies online
— March 25, 2025 @ 18:31
Mexican Pharm International: mexican drug stores online – mexican pharmacy online
— March 26, 2025 @ 01:55
Kamagra: kamagra kopen nederland – Officiele Kamagra van Nederland
— March 26, 2025 @ 03:34
viagra without prescription: buy generic 100mg viagra online – cheapest viagra
— March 26, 2025 @ 04:00
Kamagra kamagra kopen nederland kamagra pillen kopen
— March 26, 2025 @ 05:29