According to some authorities they are the terrorists of the flora and fauna world. They strike at night at unusual places and attack their targets with force and passion. By the time they leave the crime scene the landscape is unrecognizable.

They are Guerrilla Gardeners, a collection of secret cells around the world that sneak around at night; planting, fertilizing and watering plants they purchase on their own into barren spots of earth that have long gone neglected.

Their leader, or rather their current inspiration, is an Englishman, Richard Reynolds. He has written a book, “On Guerrilla Gardening,” that outlines his philosophy as “The illicit cultivation of someone else’s land.”

Reynolds’ book is a compendium of advice, technique and tactic on how to improve the landscape by seizing the moment and acting without proper authority.

The book recommends everything from practical clothing to wear to communication equipment you might need – essentially walkie talkies for people on the lookout for the authorities.

The book also speaks about seed bombing by describing one of its member’s penchant for speading flower seeds from his car as he drives down the M60 motorway. “Scattering seeds is the easiest way to guerrilla gardening,” he writes. “You do not even have to stop moving to do it.”

Members communicate and organize events using Reynolds’ website: http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

The concept has its roots in New York City during the seventies. It has since grown into chapters around the world who arm themselves with trowels and flashlights, skulk into the night air to dig up some impoverished plot of land and transform it with flowers.

It is work that could lead to brushes with the law. In England the guerrilla gardeners have run afoul of the authorities. Recently a group of gardeners attempt to rehabilitate a central London roundabout only to be stopped by the police. The cultivating of land that you do not own is considered a crime and could carry a criminal charge.

The digging ceased, the police withdrew, the gardeners withdrew but hid in the shadows waiting until the coast was clear, and then finished the job.