The purpose of this presentation is to describe the meaning of gorilla gardening. The term ‘gorilla gardening’ does not refer to gardening that is done by gorillas. Also, gorilla gardening is to be distinguished from guerrilla gardening, which describes gardening in a land that the gardener does not have legal right to use (Ray, 2012). Then, what is the meaning of gorilla gardening? In general terms, gorilla gardening refers to planting seeds or improving the condition of existing plants in a way that enhances their ability of competing for resources and surviving (Ray, 2012). The mentioned definition of gorilla gardening is quite broad, even though it gives a comprehensive meaning of the term. The meaning of the term can be understood better through examining various specific examples of how gorilla gardening is done.
Gorilla hardening can be applied in planting seeds in various areas through the use of a clay ball, also known as seed ball. This involves several simple steps. The first step is to make clay balls. The second step is to insert seeds inside the clay balls (Ray, 2012). The third step is to leave the seed balls to dry. The next step is to throw the dried seed balls in various areas where they might do well (Ray, 2012). There is one thing that should be noted; the clay balls are not thrown in a systematic way or in a way that might be perceived as normal planting. Rather, they are thrown irregularly. After the rains, the clay ball will dissolve and provide nutrients to the seed. You may not view this example of gorilla gardening as unnecessary since it does not coincide with what humans normally done today (Ray, 2012).
A better and more usual example is the planting of different plants together so that they benefit from each other. You may have used this strategy, but probably and most likely, you did not know that it is called gorilla planting. For instance, you can plant squash, pole beans and corn together in the same hole, as early Americans used to do (Ray, 2012). Pole bean will release nitrogen that will be used by squash and corn. Corn is tall and thus, pole bean will use it to climb. On the other hand, squash will cover the area around and help to protect the soil from erosion and to prevent loss of moisture. That way, the survival of the three plants will be enhanced (Ray, 2012).
An alternative way to planting is to enhance the survival of plants that have already grown. Assume, for instance, you are on retreat and examine a wild blueberry grown in the midst bushes. You may decide to enhance the survival of the blueberry through removing the surrounding bushes (Ray, 2012). This will help in minimizing competition for resources between the blueberries and the bushes. You may want to enhance the survival of the blueberry further through covering its bottom with mulch. Also, you may feel the need to increase the amount of nitrogen contained in the soil surrounding the blueberry through planting pole beans (Ray, 2012).
The three examples are enough to give you an idea of what the term gorilla planting means. There might be other slightly different examples, but they all revolve around the general definition for gorilla gardening given earlier. You can generate other ideas of gorilla planting.
References
Ray, C. (2012). Gorilla Gardening. Retrieved from
