The Recycled Garden at Hampton Court
In May I asked the Royal Horticultural Society if they'd let me build them a show garden entirely from discarded plants at the Chelsea Flower Show. They said "yes, and there's even more discarded plants to make use of." So I'm partially submerging a skip and filling it with plants. Read the blog at RecycledGarden.net.
Monday, June 09, 2008
New York Times profile
There's been a quite a bit of publicity about my book On Guerrilla Gardening, but the profile in the New York Times magazine this weekend is the first to stray into the realms of Good at Magic, referencing T-shirt and music production. Read the full disturbingly precise story here.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Book launched
My first book, "On Guerrilla Gardening" was officially launched today at the Museum of Garden History in London. Published by Bloomsbury, it's available all over the place. Signed copies will be available soon from Good at Magic.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Decorating
17 years ago at the age of 13 I was paid by a stranger to wallpaper and decorate their house. It was a remarkable success and for the next six years this was my main employment (except for when I was at school). Today I am resuming the business. Contact me for a quote.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Meopham Horticultural Society
In the delightful surroundings of Meopham Village Hall in Kent I set up the Kodak Carousel projector and gave my hour long slide show On Guerrilla Gardening. The crowd seemed enjoyably fascinated and one lady took my bag of GuerrillaGardening.org lavender pillows and sold them to her friends, cleaning us out of the 2007 harvest. It's time to stitch some more.
Friday, January 18, 2008
"On Guerrilla Gardening" out in May
My book, "On Guerrilla Gardening - a handbook for gardening without boundaries" will be published on 5 May (UK) and 27 May (USA). This collection of stories from gardeners around the world who cultivate land without permission will hopefully inspire you to take arms. Pre-order it now by clicking here.
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Good at Magic T-shirt shop reopens
Five years ago Good at Magic began as a range of T-shirts and so now I'm delighted to announce that these shirts are available once more, including two new designs by Sol Nicholson of Goldsmith's College that celebrate two heroic kitchen appliances. The online shop has reopened online and inhouse. All shirts are now at a new price of £15. To browse the sixteen designs click on the SHOP button in the menu bar above.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
A Hedonist's Guide To Life
I've written a chapter about guerrilla gardening for a book called "A Hedonist's Guide To Life". The Amazon synopsis is: "A Hedonist's guide to Life is a collection of essays renowned and respected authors on life's more hedonistic aspects. Topics range from love, sex, food and gambling to music, drugs and religion. If you've ever wanted to know about orgy etiquette, how to act like a high roller without actually having a cent, freebase alcohol or join a cult while retaining your soul then this is the book for you." Buy it from Amazon.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Charlton & Blackheath Horticultural Society
Tonight my Kodak Carousel 2050 slide projector and I are off to SE7 to talk about guerrilla gardening for an hour or so to the members of the local horticultural society. It's the first of talks to clubs like this about the subject and hopefully the start of many more. I shall be planting some Allium "Purple Sensation" by the roadside on the way home.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Guerrilla lavender pillow harvest
Guerrilla-gardener-grown lavender has been harvested from a south London traffic island and stuffed into a limited edition of 200 fragrant linen pillows screen printed by Good at Magic and Sol Nicholson of Goldsmith's College. The full story and the chance to buy one can be visited at the GuerrillaGardening.org website. Proceeds go towards the guerrilla gardening campaign, fighting filth in public space with forks and flowers.
Friday, August 24, 2007
"Smart City" Emergences Festival, Paris
I will be giving a presentation about guerrilla gardening at the 5th Festival Emergences at the Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris on 26 September 2007. Emergences is dedicated to discussing electronic cultures and emerging artistic forms and this year has an emphasis on doing this in urban space.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
"No More Land Mines" advertisement
No More Land Mines filmed a new ad this week to raise awareness about their charitable cause. Together with other supporters I was invited to be an extra in what promises to be a stunning 60" film shot by the award winning commercials director Andy McLeod. Our role was to sit on four Battersea Park benches and keep are feet off the ground. It was an excruciatingly painful exercise, but not as bad as loosing a leg.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Port Eliot LitFest
I am at the Port Eliot Lit Fest during the weekend of 21 July this summer on the main stage at 5.30pm on Saturday to talk about guerrilla gardening. Port Eliot is a place described as having "a great deal of books and a great deal of soul". Martin Parr is there talking about photography and Gaz Mayall is hosting a cabaret stage. So do come pitch up your tent in the grounds of Port Eliot and let me know if you're coming. Find out more at the Port Eliot LitFest website.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Internationales Gartensymposium NÖ
I am speaking at an International Gardening Symposium in Austria on 15 June. For more information visit After Image's website (which is in German). It is the high point of a European tour meeting and photographing guerrilla gardeners. The itinerary includes Melk, Berlin, Amsterdam and Brussels.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Guerrilla Gardening - New TV documentary
Al Gore's new user generated web cable thing called Current TV launched yesterday and my Guerrilla Gardening project was part of the launch line up. In conversation with Richard Madely about the channel Big Al said we were great. The documentary is good too. You can view it by visiting the Current TV website.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Photography Exhibition
An exhibition of Good at Magic photography is at the hair salon Cello until the summer. Call in at 92 York Street, London W1 to take a look, and get a trim at the same time.
Monday, January 22, 2007
London Lavender Pillows
Nine months ago fellow guerrilla gardeners and I dug up a neglected traffic island in Lambeth and planted hundreds of lavender plants. We harvested the crop of flowers at the end of the summer and have stuffed them into hand made pillows. It's all in aid of GuerrillaGardening.org, fundraising for our forthcoming projects in spring.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Oyxgen 10 Years On
A reunion for broadcasters and listeners of Oxford's Oxygen 107.9fm is planned for Friday 16 February at The Prince in Brixton.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Guerrillas in Libya
Guerrilla Gardening reached Libya as I dug into a Tripoli pavement with the support of the Revolutionary Youth Committee.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Good at Magic Ts in 300% Cotton book.
Helen Walters has published a third book celebrating T-shirts. "300% Cotton", published by Laurence King, includes T-shirts by Good at Magic. You can buy a copy from Amazon here.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Bloomsbury to publish "On Guerrilla Gardening"
My book about Guerrilla Gardening, a history of the movement and a manual for the front line, is to be published by Bloomsbury in 2008.
Monday, September 25, 2006
TATE Modern back with more new Deller T-shirts
The Southwark Cyclists T-shirts designed by Jeremy Deller are back. This time in a limited run of 200 bright green shirts, stocked exclusively at the Tate Modern... not even for sale in my little online shop here. But there are another 200 limited edition shirts available online at the Tate shop, these are in a fetching cranberry colour and you can get them by clicking here. (The link will take you to small sized male shirt but they are available in different sizes and cuts)
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Guerrilla Gardening Japanese TV documentary
A half hour TV profile of Guerrilla Gardening in London was broadcast today on NHK, Japan's state broadcaster. A team from Dom Productions followed me and other guerrillas for four days earlier this summer and filmed the guerrilla gardening transformation of a large brick planter in Manor House, London.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Good at Magic planning Peroni
I have started planning the advertising on Peroni for The Bank advertising agency. Enjoy the current campaign here at Peroni's website.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
New Guerrilla Gardening Community
A new online Community board launched today for GuerrillaGardening.org as a place for guerrillas around the world to meet, plot and report of victories and failures. Sign up and get involved by clicking here
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Notice Your Nuts
My advertising planning at DLKW for Everyman, the male cancer charity, has led to Adam and Dave's new "Notice Your Nuts" film. You can view it by clicking here
Monday, July 10, 2006
Salvatore Ferragamo & The Vanden Plas
Santa Margherita by The Vanden Plas has been chosen up by Salvatore Ferragamo for a compilation available through their US stores. It seems they make more than fine shoes and silk ties. If you don't have the record I recommend getting the Kemia Bar compilation available here
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
TATE Modern selling last of Deller T shirts
The strictly limited to 150 Jeremy Deller Southwark Cyclist Red T-shirts are nearly gone. The last 40 are now on sale exclusively at the Tate Modern gift shop on London's South Bank. Available in sizes gut for men and women. Other Good at Magic T-shirts are available from the online shop.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Guerrilla Gardening invited into Earl Courts
I've just built a garden in Earls Court, a 2 square metre plot of Cosmos, Petunia and Geraniums within concrete kerb stones against a back drop of nocturnal Southwark. It's a bit of theatre to illustrate a trend at this year's London Interiors exhibtion (all be it an Exterior trend!) The invitation has triggered me to cultivate a PowerPoint presentation all about guerrilla gardening which will be presented this afternoon in their Trends Seminar.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Guerrilla Gardening Question Time
BBC London hosted a carnival of badgers and beetles on London's sunny South Bank as part of Springwatch. I joined a panel of garden and wildlife experts on stage to answer gardening questions from the crowds and listeners. The BBC were also handing out free packets of Wildflower seeds, perfect for Guerrilla Gardening.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Guerrilla War screams Stratford Guardian
Front page news this week in Stratford is the Guerrilla Gardening dig in Vicarage Lane. I called by this afternoon to top up the shingle and buy a copy of the newspaper. Read the story by downloading a PDF here.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Sinner Winner ASBO
Our friend Phil has finally been gagged by some beastly officials from Westminster Council. He can no longer preach with his loud speaker in an area bounded by Marble Arch, Regent Street and Portman Square. The ban lasts three years.
Exhibition at the Van Alen Institute New York
The Van Alen Institute have invited me to exhibit three Guerrilla Gardening projects at their exhibition "The Good Life" (7 Sep - 1 Oct 2006), Pier 40 Hudson River Park, New York. The theme of the exhibition is to illustrate the importance of well designed public spaces for recreation and leisure in elevating the quality of life.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
BBC Spring Watch
The BBC are going to town this year for Spring Watch and staging regional events to coincide with Bill Oddie's TV show about badgers. London's bash happens on Saturday 3 June, and there will be live animals, organic veg, a jazz funk band, and me as the Guerrilla Gardener on the South Bank near Coin Street for the afternoon.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
The Vanden Plas
Good at Magic offers, with thanks to Anna at Most Records, their beautifully compiled double album "One Night At Momo's Kemia Bar" for just £12. This includes the only full length digital release of our very own balearic epic 'Santa Margherita' by The Vanden Plas, as well as tracks by Candi Staton, Charles Webster, Tiefschwarz and Bang Bang.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Guerrilla Gardening Donations
If you'd like to help support Guerrilla Gardening you can sign up and make PayPal donations at the website, or shopping for T-shirts and my record in the Good at Magic store also goes some way to make it more viable, and Britain that little bit more attractive.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Gardening at breakfast time
The biggest Guerrilla Gardening dig yet was begun last night, with a crew from BBC Breakfast watching on. 12 troops turned up bearing implements and an assortment of shrubs and bulbs. One half of the traffic island near Lambeth North tube has been transformed, the results will be shown on BBC Breakfast on Monday 20 March.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
May Moonwalk
Full moon falls on a Saturday in May so we're going to Paris. Let me know if you want to come along. www.themoonwalkers.org
Friday, February 10, 2006
GG in ES magazine
Olivia Stewart-Liberty joined me and about 10 or so Chelsea College of Art students for a dig in St George's Circus last week. We planted 5 huge Rosemary bushes, 30 Lavandual angustifolia and a bundle of primulas. The full report is in today's ES magazine. Read it here.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Richard & Judy help out in the garden
Well they didn't exactly get stuck in, but they did help fund some Guerrilla Gardening in Camberwell and broadcast one of our digs on their show. But Judy seemed a little disapproving and knocked back Richard's enthusiasm by reminding him "some people like concrete". Find out more at Guerrilla Gardening.org
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Sinner Winner Man Down Under
Our friend and fellow T-shirt designer, P.G. Howard is currently off London's streets. Our loss is Australia's gain. He's taken his megaphone down there. Click here to see what he's up to.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Mail On Sunday buys me shit
I've been out gardening again, this time with Tony from the Mail on Sunday, who kindly brought his own shit to dig. The night's work can be seen at Guerrilla Gardening, and read about by downloading the full story.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Seeding Guerrilla Gardening on the beeb again
Guerrilla Gardening was invited "On The Sofa" for Charlie Crocker's" syndicated evening show on BBC local radio. In between some soothing Coldplay and David Gray we chatted about the highs and lows of planting in the dark, and took a call from a vegan. Read more about it at
Friday, January 06, 2006
T-shirts in forthcoming book
Three Ts: "Punch Scene", "Sinner Winner II" and "Deller's Cyclists" are be included within a new book called 300% Cotton. It's all about T-shirts and available later this year from Laurence King publishing.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Guerrilla Gardening on Radio 4
Listen to the documentary about Guerrilla Gardening that was broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Monday in December: Click here. And take a visit to St George's Circus, Elephant and Castle. The Christmas trees I planted are for life, not just Christmas.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Project Mona Lisa
Good at Magic have with Heather Pople been hosting a photography competition for Delany Lund Knox Warren. Quite remarkably, after an expert shortlisting and a democratic vote by staff, Good at Magic have also won the competition with "Play Zone", which was taken in the Millenium Dome. Cries of "foul play" have been ignored. It's magic. All entries can be viewed here
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Good at Magic T in NME
Clara spotted Alex Needham of the NME looking very happy in his pink Good at Magic Quincy Jones Thriller T-shirt in this week's NME. Yes this is exciting, really it is. Read the full article in our PRESS section.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Voodoo Ball
On Saturday 29th October we will be partying in Southwark's gruesome Clink Prison to raise money for the Internationl Red Cross. It's a Halloween Voodoo fancy dress theme. Tickets are limited to 200. You can buy yours from the Voodoo Ball website
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
BBC Radio 4 come gardening with us
Alison from Radio 4's "You and Yours" joined me on a Guerrilla Gardening dig on bank holiday Monday. We dug up a portion of St George's Circus in Southwark and planted some Pansies, Coreopsis and Rudbeckia. Take a look at the Guerrilla Gardening home page to see the results.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Time Out poo poo
"Phil 'Megaphone Man' Howard seems to divide readers between anger, outrage, and outright disgust. That would suggest there won't be much of a market for printing T-shirts featuring his well-known 'sinner/winner' catchphrase"... so say Time Out this week. Prove them wrong all you good people. You are the winners.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Kiss FM back The Sinner Winner T-shirt
Robin Banks a long time supporter of the Sinner Winner man of Oxford Circus, is backing our campaign to raise money for the poor of Eastern Europe by selling Phil's Sinner Winner T-shirts. Listen out for developments of the campaign on his Kiss FM afternoon show.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Southwark Council award Guerrilla Gardening
Despite Guerrilla Gardening's activities being mildly illegal, Southwark Council have turned a blind eye and cheerfully awarded them a certificate for "Greening In Southwark" in appreciation of their horticultural regeneration in the Elephant & Castle.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Sinner Winner Man fights off ASBO
Good at Magic were in Horseferry Road Magistrates court to see Phil Howard, (the "Sinner Winner" man), successfully defend himself against an ASBO from Westminster City Council. The man they tried to silence is back at Oxford Circus with his megaphone. See the BBC coverage here.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Turner Prize winner designs us a T-shirt
The Jeremy Deller designed Southwark Cyclists T-shirt was launched at The Globe theatre last week. You can see pictures of the Bike Breakfast on SE1.com. The shirts, each signed by the Jeremy are now available in the online shop.