In our own version of Guerrilla Gardening—the act of planting flowers or edible gardens on property that one does not own—we planted Scarlet Flax, California Poppies, blue Cornflowers, and Hidcote Lavender all along a hundred foot by three feet wide strip of city-owned land that runs along the sidewalk just outside our fence for the enjoyment of everyone who passes by.
Urban Guerrilla Gardening
We have the added bonus of being on a bike and wheelchair boulevard where a day doesn't go by that we don't get compliments and appreciation for our walk-of-flowers all abuzz with pollinators to boot.
It took several very long workdays to reclaim that section of ground from years of weeds and trampling. We aerated and augmented every inch of the soil, dug holes for each lavender plant, and added a few inches of sand a foot or so below each plant for better drainage—lavender plants love well-drained soil.
After planting all of the lavender we sowed lots of wildflower seeds all along that strip
to give the lavender some protection as they
grew. A showstopper of Scarlet Flax (Linum grandiflorum), Golden California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica), and Bachelor Buttons or Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus). After battling with folks stepping out of their cars onto our vulnerable baby lavender, we put in a few brick paths and added a fence this spring to every plant. You can see the fences peaking out through the flowers above.