What Is Chaos Gardening?

What Is Chaos Gardening?

Chaos gardening is a trend popularized on TikTok® that forgoes planning a layout and sowing individual seeds. Chaos gardeners simply grab a smattering of seeds, toss them into their yard and see what grows. Not only does this gardening trend save time, but it also creates a fun sense of surprise when you get to see what takes root and where.

Not sold? Chaos gardening has benefits beyond saving you time. Here are a few:

• Chaos Gardening Helps Create Biodiversity

Biodiversity describes a variety of life in the natural world. This variety is essential for healthy and balanced ecosystems. By including a variety of plants in your chaos gardening seed blend, you can help create a diverse habitat that might attract diverse wildlife to your yard, which helps support a healthy ecosystem. Fertile soil, clean water and protection against flooding are just a few of the many benefits of a healthy ecosystem that we can all benefit from and support.

• Chaos Gardening Encourages Creativity

Even if you don’t consider yourself a very artistic or imaginative person, chaos gardening could be a great opportunity to bring a little bit of creativity into your life. Think of the endless combinations of plants and colors you can spread in your chaos garden! You can have fun experimenting from season to season with different mixtures of seeds to see what grows the best in your yard and which plants give your garden a look you enjoy.

• Chaos Gardening Attracts Pollinators

Pollination is what keeps an ecosystem functioning, and 80% of crop plants require pollination by animals. While it’s fairly common for gardeners to include pollinator-friendly plants in their gardens, chaos gardening may attract more pollinators to your yard because you have a greater variety of plants.

Chaos Gardening Tip: Don’t have access to a yard to plant a big garden? You can practice chaos gardening in planters, window boxes or raised beds on a patio or balcony. Just make sure your chosen container has proper drainage and plenty of nutrients.

As carefree as chaos gardening is, there are a few steps you can take to encourage success.

Consider Location

Learn which part of your yard will be the most hospitable to the seeds you plant. Typically, chaos gardens are more successful in sunny spots, but if your yard doesn’t get much direct sun, opt for plants that do well in the shade.

Pick Your Plants Wisely

Consider which plants do well in the area where you live. If you’re newer to gardening, you can look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map to learn more about your growing zone and what types of plants will thrive in your part of the country. If you’re an experienced gardener, choose plants similar to ones you’ve had luck with in the past. Regardless of your gardening experience, you can focus on plants that don’t require too much maintenance for a less time-consuming garden.

Chaos Gardening Tip: Focus on choosing native plants for your chaos garden. Native plants often require less maintenance than non-native plants, create an eco-friendly garden and might last longer than non-native alternatives. You can utilize a native plant finder like this one from Homegrown National Park for inspiration.

Establish a Good Foundation

Choosing the right plants for your growing zone and planting in the right location can only do so much if your soil can’t support healthy plant growth. If you live in an area where the soil is too rocky, has an abundance of clay or has an imbalanced pH level, you may have to add fresh garden soil to support the success of your seeds taking root.

Chaos gardening may be exactly what you need to keep your love of this seasonal hobby alive. Grab your best gardening glove, your favorite wide-brimmed hat and start tossing seed to see what grows! For more fun gardening ideas, take a look at No Yard? No Problem! Windowsill Gardening for Seniors and Five Plants That Love Being Outside Year-Round.