Buzz
If there's one thing you can say about plants, it’s that they never fail to capture attention. They are stunning, vibrant, and intricately designed—from the smallest patch of moss to the towering giants of the forest. But what truly adds to their mystique is when they do what they do best: reclaim the spaces we once occupied.
We humans like to think we’re the clever ones, shaping and controlling the Earth and even the ocean floors. But the malls, streets, and skyscrapers we build are just temporary structures—soon enough, they’ll be reclaimed by plants. Here are ten places and moments where nature has taken back what we once made.
10. Wangaratta
Usually, plants take over when humans have left a space and stopped maintaining it. But there is at least one instance where the plants were the first to make their move.
Wangaratta is a city in Northeast Victoria, primarily serving as a hub for the surrounding farmland. It's a well-established community where people actively manage their properties to prevent plant overgrowth, so it's rare to hear about plants overtaking the town.
But in 2016, one morning, the people of Wangaratta woke up to find their town blanketed in a type of tumbleweed known as 'hairy panic.' The plants had completely covered houses, some up to the rooftops, and hidden cars from view. The local council refused to intervene, stating that the tumbleweed wasn't a fire risk. Residents, who struggled to clear their homes of the invasive weeds, were less than pleased.
The blame for the 'hairy panic' fell on one particular farmer who had neglected to manage the plant growth on his land, despite the challenging weather conditions and lack of water that made it difficult for many farmers. No doubt, it was a lonely afternoon at the pub for him.
9. Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel
Kellerman’s, the iconic resort from the beloved film Dirty Dancing, was inspired by a real-life location called Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel, situated near Liberty, New York.
During the mid-20th century, the Catskills were home to a number of these resorts, primarily catering to affluent Jewish New Yorkers. As depicted in the movie, families would often visit for the summer, with the men joining on weekends to escape the oppressive city heat. However, the rise of affordable air travel and air conditioning led to the decline of these secluded retreats, as more people chose to remain in the city or travel to more exotic destinations.
Grossinger’s was grand and luxurious, boasting ballrooms, swimming pools, and even a skating rink. Today, it remains massive, though nature has begun to reclaim it. Ferns, moss, and vines now creep up the once-glamorous buildings, while trees grow ever closer to the resort. The forest is slowly but surely taking back what it once yielded.
8. Houtouwan
There are several places around the world where the beauty of nature’s overgrowth has become a major tourist attraction. One such place is the small fishing village of Houtouwan, located on China’s Shengshan Island, part of the 400-island Shengsi archipelago. Each day, the village becomes more overrun by greenery.
Visitors flock to see the hauntingly beautiful overgrown village, now home to just a handful of residents. Once a lively, albeit isolated, fishing community, Houtouwan was largely abandoned in the 1990s by its inhabitants, who no longer wished to live in such a remote and underdeveloped area.
Xu Yueding and his wife Tang Yaxue, former residents of Houtouwan, now return each day to sell bottled water to the tourists who visit. There's little else to purchase in the village, and it lacks both electricity and running water.
7. Gottingen
Gottingen, Germany, is a charming university town that gained some media attention in 2013 for a surprising plant rebellion, one that had the support of humans.
Much to the astonishment of the local residents, peaceful Gottingen suddenly found itself at the heart of political activism. A group of pro-marijuana advocates called “A Few Autonomous Flower Children” (perhaps it sounds more poetic in German?) planted far more than the city council could have anticipated. In no time, the city was overrun with hundreds of marijuana plants—growing everywhere they possibly could.
The plants sown were low-THC varieties that, while technically illegal, wouldn’t serve much of a purpose for smoking. The group even held a photo contest to celebrate the town's plant life, where, in an unexpected twist, every entry was deemed a winner. The photos were published online, and the police used them to locate and remove the plants—even those that had been planted right outside the police station.
6. Pripyat
When the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster occurred in 1986, much of the surrounding area was designated as part of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. One of the affected cities was Pripyat, which once had a population of nearly 50,000 people.
Pripyat was evacuated and has largely remained untouched since. What was once a thriving city has since become a ghost town, now overtaken by nature. Plants have found their way into every nook and cranny—from the seats of deserted bumper cars to rooftops where the Soviet hammer and sickle once proudly stood. Trees tower over the city’s skyline, while wolves, elk, and boars roam the abandoned streets, passing by empty shops and schools. It feels like a city that has been abandoned by humankind, where only the plants and the animals that now inhabit it remain.
5. North Brother Island
Many urban waterways hide fascinating islands that go unnoticed unless you take the time to discover them. One such island sits between the Bronx and Rikers Island in New York City and is known as North Brother Island.
In 1885, the city established Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island, using it as a quarantine site for patients suffering from contagious diseases like yellow fever and smallpox. The island’s most infamous resident was Mary Mallon, famously known as “Typhoid Mary.” She unknowingly spread the disease while working as a cook, despite not showing any symptoms. After being detained on the island in 1907, she was released in 1910 but was forcibly brought back in 1915. She died there of pneumonia in 1938.
Later, the island served as housing for veterans and then a treatment center for heroin addicts. It has been abandoned since 1963 and has since been fully reclaimed by nature, becoming a sanctuary for black-crowned night herons.
On North Brother Island, the once-pristine red brick buildings are gradually being overtaken by vines. Vegetation creeps up to the windows, and thick trees—once just seeds when the island was abandoned—are now pressing against the walls. Some floors have been transformed into lush blankets of moss. From the Bronx, the island appears as a green, overgrown landscape, with only the chimneys of the hospital visible as a reminder of what once stood there.
4. The SS Ayrfield
Most places where trees thrive are found on solid ground. While it's true that some trees grow on rooftops or inside buildings, there is at least one boat where trees have made their home, turning it into a permanent fixture and attraction in Homebush Bay, New South Wales.
Before the SS Ayrfield became a floating garden, it was a steam-powered collier ship built in the UK in 1911 and registered in Sydney in 1912. During World War II, it was used to deliver supplies to Australian troops in the South Pacific under the name SS Corrimal. The ship changed ownership several times before being renamed Ayrfield in 1951 by the Miller Steamship Company.
The ship was ultimately sent to Homebush Bay in 1972 with the intention of being scrapped, but it remains there today. Clearly, it has become a permanent fixture, as have the trees that have taken root on it.
3. Ross Island
During British colonial rule over India, they established a penal settlement in the Andaman Islands. In need of housing for the administrators of the settlement, they selected Ross Island, which had been briefly inhabited in the late 1780s but had since been deserted. Almost exactly one hundred years later, it was rebuilt to house the British, who remained there until 1942 when the Japanese captured the islands.
Following the Japanese surrender, control of the island returned to Britain and later to India after the country gained its independence.
The island and its structures—homes, a hospital, a church, shops, and a large swimming pool—have all been overtaken by the invasive roots of the ficus tree. The buildings are now barely visible, enveloped by the plant’s tangled root systems. Today, the island serves as a tourist attraction, accessible by ferry for those wishing to witness what might one day be a glimpse of a world reclaimed entirely by nature.
2. Cambodian Temples
Angkor Wat is undoubtedly the most famous temple complex in Cambodia, though it is not the only one built by the Khmer. Many visitors to Cambodia come specifically to explore these ancient structures, with several of them having succumbed to the encroaching jungle over the centuries.
The trees that have taken over Cambodia’s temples are strangler figs, a fitting name for their relentless nature. These trees encircle and suffocate anything they grow around, from other plants to the stone temples, which they wind around like living serpents, slowly crushing the structures from their foundations to the roofs. The massive roots penetrate every crack, widening them as they take hold.
Platforms have been installed for tourists to take photos beside the enormous roots of the strangler fig, offering a moment to smile next to a natural force that both devastates and protects at once.
1. Clovis
It turns out Wangaratta wasn’t the first town to face a tumbleweed invasion. In 2014, Clovis, New Mexico, found itself under a staggering wave of tumbleweed, which likely made the situation in Wangaratta look small in comparison.
The town of Clovis was engulfed by tumbleweed, with residents trapped inside their homes, roads blocked off, and apartments completely buried in massive piles of the invading plants. The city came to the rescue, assisting with the removal of the tumbleweed. The task of scooping up and disposing of these colossal plant masses was a monumental effort.
