Alex James: guerilla gardeners take over LA The Hollywood hills are home to numerous ageing rock gentlemen enjoying the sunshine, tending their lawns and skimming their pools, but it's downtown where things start to become a bit more interesting. Guerrilla gardening is the act of cultivating public spaces or land belonging to others, without seeking permission. Group members, who operate under aliases, identify "orphaned" land in which to detonate their "seed bombs" - mixtures of clay, compost, water and the seeds of hardy, drought-resistant plants. The abundant sunshine does the rest. Nature here is quite spectacular. Ten minutes" drive from the whizzing high-density luxury of Malibu and we were on top of a mountain looking at one of the most beautiful vistas I can ever recall: the Pacific, a perfect straight line in the distance beyond the plunging hillsides. Not a house in sight. Suddenly, it felt we were as likely to see a mountain lion as we were to see another person, minutes from one of the world's biggest cities. We picked oranges and ate them. They were delicious. My daughter passed me a pip. "Can we grow an orange tree, Daddy?" she said. That is a brilliant idea. We're absolutely going to do it. In the greenhouse. I put the pip in my pocket and it felt good: ever so slightly subversive. Guerrilla oranges. Rock "n" roll.