Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Midnight gardener, daytime carrier

Long Beach, CA, Letter Carrier Scott Bunnell has a secret job off the clock. He carries mail by day, but by night he welds a shovel and seeds and attacks unsightly traffic medians and other public spaces.

He is part of a effort by stealth gardeners who plant flowers and trees and bushes along neglected open spaces, beautifying the community. The unofficial movement even has a bad-boy name -- "guerrilla gardening."

Bunnell is the man responsible for beautifying 10 different intersections in his city. He plants flowering cacti and succulents and other low maintenance plants along these public spaces.

For many years, he was an unknown, silent sentry of the garden spot. But the L.A. Times outed his efforts -- and many are hailing his work.

"I see this as my responsibility, to make my community better," he told the newspaper. "When I see an open area of land, I envision a garden."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great Job!!! This is good for everyones health. The young generation will also follow his foot steps to keep the city beautiful. It is not easy to spent money and time for others. This encourage me to do the same thing in my area.

Good Job!!!!

Anonymous said...

Way to go Scott! We need more selfless people like you to get this country going back in the right direction!

Anonymous said...

How beautiful! I am sure many admire your gifts.