Bicyclist Steve Wheen Creates Pothole Gardens to Keep Roads Safe

Bicyclist Steve Wheen was worried about bicyclists getting hurt driving over London's potholes, so he made them impossible to miss by planting flowers.

Potholes can be a pain for drivers, but they can be an even more serious hazard to bicyclists, who often get into serious accidents when riding over hidden potholes in the road. Steve Wheen, a 33-year-old cyclist from London, had nearly flipped his bike several times because of potholes, and was fed up with the state of the roads. So this spring, Wheen decided to do something about it.

Armed with some flowers, soil, and a shovel, Wheen began doing some gardening—right in the worst of the potholes. He carefully filled in each pothole with soil and flowers, and then took a photo of his work, posting the images on his blog, thepotholegardener.com.

Wheen’s guerrilla gardening helps to satisfy his green thumb tendencies: “I’m a mad keen gardener but I live in a small flat without a garden,” he told Metro. But more than that, his pothole flower pots are intended to make a point about the state of the roads by making cyclists aware of the potholes so that they can avoid taking a spill, and by alerting city officials to their presence so that they can be filled.

Wheen’s urban gardens don’t always last for long, especially on busy roads: his initial effort was flattened by a car within just two hours. Three weeks is his longest record.

“But, if I can draw a cyclist’s attention to a pothole so that they don’t hit it, and put a smile on their face, that is enough for me,” said Wheen.

Check out Wheen’s photo shoots on his website, thepotholegardener.com.