Carefree Chaos Gardening

15. April 2025

Guest Blog Post: Amy is the Director of Marketing and Communications for Joe Lamp’l (AKA joegardener®). In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, preserving her homegrown harvest, and capturing the beauty of nature through photography in her suburban backyard in Northeastern Oklahoma, accompanied by her trusty dog, Scarecrow. Amy shares her garden photography, ecological gardening insights, and observations on wildlife, herbs, vegetables, flowers, and native plants on her website and blog, Toad and Sage Garden . For occasional updates and stories from her garden, subscribe to her Substack newsletter, and be sure to follow her on Instagram.

If you’re anything like me, coming up with the perfect garden design—where every flower bed is color-coordinated, every veggie sits in neat little rows matched up with its perfect companion plant—sounds exhausting. Just thinking about it makes me want to lie down and take a nap with my cat.

Unless you're aiming for Instagram perfection (and hey, no judgment if you are), take a deep breath and give yourself permission to let it all go. Embrace the chaos. Trust me, your garden—and your sanity—will thank you.

Interplant flowers and food crops for a mix of colors and textures for chaos garden | CanningCrafts.com

Marigolds that were interplanted with food crops spilling out of every nook and cranny.

Enter chaos gardening, the rebellious sister of traditional gardening. It’s all about ditching the rigid rules and letting Mother Nature take the wheel in your garden. The result? A garden that’s a bit more wild and free with minimal effort (and hopefully money) on your part. Think of it as gardening without the pressure, where randomness reigns and the seeds and the soil calls the shots. It’s fun, it’s low-maintenance, and it’s the perfect antidote to our already over-scheduled, task-filled lives. Plus, you might just end up with a thriving, biodiverse backyard ecosystem without breaking too much of a sweat.

Cosmos mixed in with edible crops in a raised bed.

What is Chaos Gardening?

You might have heard it called scatter gardening, guerrilla gardening, or even intensive planting. To me, they’re all just slightly different versions of the same thing. Chaos gardening is all about embracing imperfection and unpredictability.

Instead of pulling your hair out trying to carefully plot neat rows, fret about crop rotation, or meticulously design garden beds, you simply toss seeds around and tuck in seedlings wherever you have space. A wild, freeform mix of plants that mimic the natural look of meadows or untamed landscapes—bringing together beauty, productivity, and ecological benefits in one delightful mess.

I’ve dabbled in both styles over the years including hybrid versions of chaos gardening. Picture nice, orderly rows of cabbages—but between them, marigolds are bursting out of every available space, doing their own thing. A few feet away, the bachelor buttons didn’t just stay where I scattered them; they staged a full-blown takeover, spilling out of the flower bed and colonizing a chunk of the yard.

And in the next raised bed? I casually scattered some leftover arugula seeds and tossed in a few packs of nasturtiums for good measure. No plan, no stress—just a happy, chaotic garden doing what it does best.

A chaos garden that sprung up next to my compost bin many years ago. It was the result of scattering a mix of flower seeds that blossomed along side a stray morning glory plant.

Why It Resonates Now

A Response to Over-Planning: With all that we have to do in a day and so much in life being regimented, chaos gardening offers a therapeutic escape from strict control. I mean, do we really need to add a perfect garden to our already toppling plate of expectations and tasks?

Ecological Gardening: This method encourages biodiversity, which supports pollinators, beneficial insects, and soil health.

Budget-Friendly: Using seed mixes or leftover seeds can reduce waste and cost.

Surprise and Joy: The randomness creates opportunities for unexpected beauty and discovery. Couldn’t we all use a few nice surprises right now?

It feels like a good time to be a little defiant, am I right? Sow a little chaos of our own while trusting that Mother Nature knows better than we do.

The raised bed chaos garden in fall.

How to Approach Chaos Gardening

Scatter Seeds Freely: Mix wildflowers, herbs, vegetables, and other plants together and broadcast them over your garden space.
Mix Edible and Ornamental Plants: Do a little “foodscaping.” Combine lettuce, kale, and edible flowers like nasturtiums with zinnias, cosmos, and sunflowers.
Skip Formal Rows or Beds: Let plants grow where they land. Plants tend to travel around the garden rearranged by wind and birds. Allow them to form their own natural groupings and layers and see what takes hold.
Encourage Volunteers: Allow self-seeding plants from the previous year (like cherry tomatoes, basil, dill, yarrow, or sunflowers) to sprout where they want.
Layer Textures and Heights: Include a mix of tall, medium, and low-growing plants for visual and ecological interest.
Experiment with Pollinator Mixes: Use seed mixes designed to attract pollinators and scatter them in the garden. See which plants out of that mix takes over and dominates the others after a few seasons. Learn How to Plant a Pollinator Garden.

Monarch butterfly on a marigold flower.

Benefits of Chaos Gardening

Biodiversity: Mixing things up with a wild, meadow-style garden isn’t just about looks—it’s about creating a thriving habitat for insects, birds, and other wildlife. With a variety of flowers blooming at different times, there’s always something on the menu for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Some are drawn to blues and purples, while others prefer whites and yellows, so scattering a diverse mix of seeds helps mimic nature’s own design.

Low Maintenance & Resilient: One of the best things about chaos gardening is how little effort it takes once you get started. By mimicking natural ecosystems, this approach reduces the need for constant weeding, watering, and fertilizing. Instead of battling weeds, you’re strategically keeping the soil shaded with a dense planting of flowers, herbs, and vegetables that fill in every available space. The more plants you have, the less room there is for weeds to take hold.

Plus, a mix of different plant heights, leaf shapes, and root structures helps create a natural balance in the garden. Deep-rooted plants like sunflowers or echinacea help break up compacted soil, while shallow-rooted plants like lettuce or clover act as living mulch, helping retain moisture and keep the soil cool. That means less watering and fewer soil amendments on your part.

What about pests? When you plant a diverse mix instead of a monoculture, you’re naturally reducing pest problems. Many pests thrive in uniform plantings where they can easily hop from one host plant to the next. But in a chaos garden, their buffet is disrupted by a variety of scents, colors, and plant types, making it harder for them to spread. I know from experience that all of that diversity also attracts beneficial insects like ladybugs, lacewings, and predatory wasps, which help keep pest bugs in check.

Raised beds can be planted chaotically too. This one had brassicas mixed with nasturtiums, marigolds, sweet alyssum, and arugula.

Creative Expression: This free-spirited approach turns gardening into an artistic exercise. Want to tuck bright nasturtiums between your tomato plants? Go for it. Curious to see what happens when you scatter wildflower seeds alongside your lettuce? Why not? I love to see dark purple mustard leaves with bright orange pops of marigolds nearby. Instead of stressing over perfect design, you get to enjoy the organic beauty of a space that evolves naturally—bold, messy, and entirely your own.

Fun for Kids and Beginners: I remember when I first started gardening—I wanted everything to be just right, and honestly, it was overwhelming. Instead of feeling peaceful and fun, it started to feel like work. That’s why chaos gardening is such a great approach for beginners—it’s an easy, low-stakes way to learn how plants grow without getting bogged down by rigid rules. If you have children in the family that you’re introducing to gardening, chaos gardening turns it into a hands-on adventure—digging in the dirt, tossing seeds, watching surprise plants pop up, and spotting bees and butterflies as they explore the garden.

It's low-cost: Chaos gardening is a budget-friendly way to create a lush, thriving garden without spending a fortune. By using cheap or leftover seeds, saving seeds, letting plants self-sow, and working with what you already have, you can grow a beautifully wild space for next to nothing. It’s proof that you don’t need expensive plants or fancy designs to have a garden bursting with life—you just need a little creativity and a willingness to let nature do its thing!

Random seed packets for vegetables and herbs | CanningCrafts.com

Where to Get Cheap Seeds

Starting a wild, low-maintenance chaos garden doesn’t have to cost a fortune. With a little creativity and some resourceful shopping, you can get your hands on seeds for a fraction of the price—or even for free! Here’s where to find the best deals on seeds without breaking the bank.

Budget-Friendly Seed Packets: I like to support independent seed companies and buy organic seeds as much as possible, but sometimes that can get very expensive. I will often wait until they put seeds on clearance at the end of the season to stock up for spring. I have found some pretty deep discounts at Eden Brothers for example. But in a pinch, many stores like Wal-Mart and Dollar General, sell seed packets for $1 or less in early spring. Grab those up and then also go back and check clearance racks toward the end of the planting season for deep discounts.

Some even offer variety packs with multiple seed types, giving you more bang for your buck. While these seeds may not be organic, they’re perfectly viable for chaos gardening—just toss them in and see what grows!

Seed Libraries: Many local libraries and community centers have seed libraries, where you can “check out” seeds for free. This is a great way to experiment with new plants without spending a dime. Seed libraries may even encourage you to save seeds and return some at the end of the season to keep the cycle going. In my city, our library system allows you to look up seeds online, place a hold on seeds, and it even provides sowing and germination tips.

Community Swaps and Freebies: Local gardening groups, seed swaps, and even Facebook marketplace or other social media groups can be goldmines for free seeds. Many gardeners have extra seeds they’re happy to share, especially from plants that reseed easily. Ask around—you might be surprised how many people have extras they don’t need!

Bachelor buttons have escaped a flower bed and each spring they naturalize a portion of the lawn.

Save Your Own Seeds: If you already have a garden, let some of your plants go to seed and collect them for next season. This is especially easy with flowers like marigolds, zinnias, and sunflowers, as well as herbs like dill and basil. Review our blog post on how to save tomato seeds to start your seed saving journey. Then use our FREE Printable Seed Saver envelopes to stash your seed collection.

Grocery Store Seeds: Did you know you can grow plants from food you already buy? Try planting dried beans, lentils, birdseed, or even seeds from store-bought tomatoes, peppers, or squash. Keep in mind that most grocery store produce comes from hybrids, so the plants may not grow true to type—but that’s all part of the fun of chaos gardening!

Wild Foraging: Collecting seeds from native or non-invasive plants in your area can be a great way to expand your garden for free. I’ve been known to snatch a few seed heads from flowers in local parks or around the neighborhood in empty lots. Just be mindful—stick to native plants and avoid bringing home invasives that could take over your garden and into a neighbor’s yard.

A mix of wildflowers gives a meadow like appearance to the garden.

Tips for a Sowing a Chaos Garden

Buy in Bulk or Mixes: Seed mixes (like wildflower blends) are perfect for scattering. Bulk seeds are often cheaper per unit and ideal for chaos gardening. If you grow microgreens and have a handful leftover, that’s maybe not enough to start a new tray of microgreens, toss them in the garden and see what happens. I did that with arugula last year and we were harvesting from two big arugula patches for months.

Broadcast Planting: Instead of carefully planting seeds, scatter them freely over your garden area. Lightly rake them in or let rain work them into the soil.

Skip Fancy Soil Prep: Spread seeds over existing soil or use compost or mulch as a topper. The randomness works well for chaos gardening.

Water Sparingly: Use rainwater if possible and stick with hardy plants that can tolerate neglect. Maybe with all the money you saved this year on not buying expensive plants and equipment, you could set up some rain barrels for water collection.

Milkweed mixed in with zinnias, cosmos, black eyed Susans.

Best Plants for Cheap Chaos Gardening

Flowers: Marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, poppies, bachelor’s buttons, love-in-amist, and calendula all grow well when scattered. They’re also easy to collect seeds from and save once they go to seed.

Vegetables: Radishes, lettuce, kale, spinach, arugula and beans (many are quick to germinate and thrive in wild settings).

Dill is an herb that is great for a chaos garden. It makes tons of seeds that reseed every year.

Herbs: Dill, cilantro, basil, parsley, and chives (these often reseed themselves). Yarrow also travels around the garden and works its way into the lawn which I love because it’s so soft to walk on.

Perennials/Hardy Plants: Echinacea, black-eyed Susans, and coreopsis are long-lasting options. I have also had luck with golden crownbeard (also called cowpen daisy) and wild sunflowers I collected years ago on a neighborhood walk. They reseed and pop up all around the garden in a lot of different nooks and crannies.

Golden crownbeard is a prolific reseeder and a hardy plant. It even grows in between our patio pavers.

Keeping it Cheap and Easy

Focus on low-maintenance, self-seeding plants that will come back year after year or spread naturally.

Don’t stress about a few weeds—embrace the wild look. In fact, I always inspect the weeds that are popping up to see what has decided to grow there. One year wild herb shepherd’s purse began showing up with its adorable little heart shaped leaves and baby’s breath looking flowers.

Add a cheap birdbath or pollinator house to provide water and shelter to the beneficial insects and wildlife that will now be visiting your chaos garden.

Chaos gardening feels like an invitation to play in the dirt without the pressure of perfection. It’s perfect for connecting with nature in a creative, carefree way while making an ecological impact.