Guerrilla Gardeners is an Australian television show that was broadcast on the Ten Network. The show takes its name and basic premise from the guerrilla gardening

Guerrilla gardening

Guerrilla gardening is gardening on another person's land without permission. It encompasses a very diverse range of people and motivations, from the enthusiastic gardener who spills over their legal boundaries to the highly political gardener who seeks to provoke change through direct action. It...

 environmental movement. Premiering in February 2009, it was axed in April 2009 due to struggling viewership figures and an unsuccessful timeslot change, with a number of episodes still to be aired but was picked up by Channel One in 2011. The show has also raised controversy from the activities portrayed in the program.

Overview

The show involves a group of six "guerrilla gardeners" attempting to covertly beautify

Beautification

Beautification is the process of making visual improvements to a person, place or thing. With regard to a town, city or to an urban area, this most often involves planting trees, shrubbery, and other greenery, but frequently also includes adding decorative or historic-style street lights and other...

 urban eyesores such as abandoned lots or bleak public spaces without being caught by the authorities. Five of the guerrilla gardeners are experienced in landscape and horticulture, while sixth member and host Dave Lawson

Dave Lawson

Dave Lawson is an Australian comedian and TV and radio personality. He is currently participating in a talk back radio segment on the Nova 100 Australian commercial radio station, and is also a regular performer on the stand up comedy circuit...

 was hired primarily for his ability to "spin lies to the councils when they turned up".

Controversy

As portrayed on the show, the gardeners' work is done without seeking consent from the owners of the land and is often completed through subterfuge and by defying trespass

Trespass

Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.Trespass to the person, historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem, and maiming...

 laws. Because of this, a finished Guerrilla Gardeners project was threatened with removal by Marrickville Council

Marrickville Council

Marrickville Council is a Local Government Area situated in the Inner West region of Sydney, Australia.The area is bounded by Leichhardt to the north, the City of Sydney to the east and north-east, the City of Botany Bay to the south-east, Rockdale to the south, Canterbury to the west, and...

, while a project in Sutherland Shire

Sutherland Shire

The Sutherland Shire is a Local Government Area in the Southern Sydney region of Sydney, Australia. Geographically, it is the area to the south of Botany Bay and the Georges River...

 was halted halfway through construction due to council interference, with the unfinished plantings later removed. The producers were also issued a fine from the council, which they challenged. Ten also accused Canterbury Council of preparing to destroy work featured in the series' first episode, though these claims were later found to be premature and incorrect.

As a counterpoint to their activities, Sutherland Shire asserted that their removal of a Guerrilla Gardeners project was due to factors such as the team's failure to take into account soil quality and the unauthorised installation of plants and decorations which may create a distraction for motorists. They also claimed that Guerrilla Gardeners failed to comply with traffic and workplace safety rules during construction. Producers of the show have stated that they will respect any council decisions regarding what becomes of their work.

Episodes

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#	Title	Original air date	RatingsOverall national viewers, numbers in brackets indicate nightly ratings position.
Average series ratings			674,545