Forget perfectly straight rows and colour-co-ordinated flower beds. Instead, create chaos in the garden this National Gardening Week, from October 20-27.
This year’s new garden trend, chaos gardening, is all about letting go of control and embracing a relaxed, low-maintenance approach to growing flowers, herbs and vegetables.
Instead of painstakingly planning every corner of the garden, seed mixes are sown – or even thrown – directly into the soil and nature takes the lead. The result? An abundant, surprising and often beautifully wild garden that thrives with minimal fuss.
This style of gardening is gaining momentum because it suits today’s busy lifestyles while promoting sustainability and biodiversity. By planting a wide mix of seeds together, gardeners create diverse ecosystems that attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies and improve soil health.
Yates spokeswoman Fiona Arthur said the rise of chaos gardening is a movement that encourages creativity and environmental responsibility.
“Chaos gardening takes the pressure off having a ‘perfect’ garden and instead celebrates the unpredictability of what each season is going to bring. Gardeners often describe the joy of discovering carrots growing next to cosmos, or the way self-seeded tomatoes appear in surprising spots,” Arthur said.
“It’s a low-maintenance, cost-effective and joyful way to experiment. Take an unloved part of the garden and use some of the many flower mixes available – from edible flower mix, bee mix and butterfly mix to shady spots mix – and turn bare soil into something productive and beautiful.”
Consider your space, sun exposure and local climate to help choose seeds that will thrive. Prepare the soil by removing weeds and loosening the top few centimetres to help seeds get off to a strong start.
Choose your mix – combine vegetable seeds (think lettuce, radish, beans), herbs (basil, parsley, coriander) and flowers (sunflowers, snapdragons, cosmos, calendula, marigold). Many gardeners enjoy making their own seed “cocktails” for maximum surprise.
Once the seeds are in the ground, watering twice a week will help get them established.
Chaos gardening has struck a chord with Kiwis looking for a low-maintenance, sustainable and creative approach to gardening. With many people feeling time-poor but still craving a connection to nature, the idea of tossing seeds into the soil and stepping back is liberating and achievable.
Gardening guru Lynda Hallinan has been a proponent of chaos gardening long before it became a thing.
“The genius of this idea is that you don’t need to overthink gardening as nature knows what she’s doing. You’ll end up with a combination of colours and flowers that you can’t really achieve by being too deliberate,” Hallinan said.
“For families, it can be an exciting way to get kids outdoors and curious about food, plants and pollinators. For experienced gardeners, it’s a refreshing reminder that not everything needs to be planned to the last detail.”
Importantly, chaos gardening encourages a mindset shift: away from striving for perfection and towards embracing nature’s quirks.
Arthur said if you only plant one flower, make it the much-underrated nasturtium. These prolific plants attract beneficial insects and pollinators, act as the sacrificial plant for many common garden pests such as green and black fly and cabbage butterflies, and act as living mulch to conserve soil moisture.
They also suppress weeds, are easy to grow, have an amazing range of colours and are edible – and look fantastic in salads.
Established in 2015, National Gardening Week aims to foster a love of gardening with a focus on growing not only plants but friendships, good health, strong communities and closer connections with nature. Whether it’s a few pots on the balcony, a small patch or an extensive garden, everyone can experience the joy of gardening.
The theme of National Gardening Week this year is “communities in bloom”, which aims to make communities better through gardening by improving social connection and mental health, nurturing green spaces and natural beauty, and growing your own food for freshness and financial freedom.
Yates is encouraging everyone, from first-time gardeners to seasoned pros, to throw caution to the wind and give nature free rein to get creative this National Gardening Week.
“There are no mistakes, only surprises,” Arthur said.
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