What Is Chaos Gardening? A ‘Messy’ Trend That Transforms Your Backyard While Preserving Nature
There’s beauty in chaos. While the universe naturally embraces spontaneity, humans tend to have an affinity for structure and organization. But recently, gardeners and plant enthusiasts are taking that power back and letting their gardens and lawns grow wild in a new trend – chaos gardening. Several TikTok creators have shared their takes on the emerging “messy garden” trend that benefits the ecosystem while requiring minimal effort. Meagan Lloyd, who goes by @meggrowsplants on TikTok, is one of the faces behind sparking this green wave of change. Even scientists have backed this gardening trend.
Chaos gardening takes the internet by storm
Lloyd is one of the many TikTok creators who collected a bounty of vegetables and herbs after the growing season from their chaos gardens. In a viral snippet, Lloyd showed her lush garden of veggies that she allowed to grow wild, and had some of the best quality vegetables she had ever grown. She narrated how she came to follow the viral gardening hack. “I started chaos gardening when I was working a full-time job with a one-hour commute each way. I had absolutely no time to garden, but I still wanted to grow my own food,” she penned in the caption.
@meggrowsplants Chaos gardening results 💚 I started chaos gardening when I was working a full time job with a one hour commute each way. I had absolutely no time to garden, but I still wanted to grow my own food. I went outside and made a last ditch effort and just threw all of the seeds I had out into my garden beds and called it a season. And it was one of the best things I ever did! I think chaos gardening appeals to alot of people, because most people are in the exact same boat. Not everyone has time to become an “expert” in gardening, but they still want the amazing experience of growing food. The overwhelm of gardening information out there, and (the sometimes very aggressive) “dos and donts” can actually be discouraging to new gardeners. Chaos gardening is definitely something that has been integrated into my personal gardening style, even though this is now my job! I love the low effort, low maintenance, fun and carefree aspect to it- and you can grow lots of food this way as well. I find that it’s an encouraging way to garden. No rules, no stress, just experimentation and fun in your garden. Do you want to try chaos gardening? 🪴 #chaosgardening #chaosgardener #chaosgarden #gardening #growyourownfood #growfood #growingfood #gardeninspiration #gardendesign #gardentok ♬ original sound - MegGrowsPlants
As a last resort, she made a ditch and tossed all the seeds she had in her garden beds into the ditch without providing any extra care for their growth. “It was one of the best things I ever did!” Lloyd admitted. Later, she could not believe her thriving chaos garden while reaping the best vegetables. Now a full-time gardener, Lloyd notes how the strict rules in gardening discourage beginners and people with busy schedules. “I love the low-effort, low-maintenance, fun and carefree aspect to it– and you can grow lots of food this way as well,” the creator wrote.
@tayyluuh The results from last year’s chaos garden were unmatched! What flower are you wanting in your cut flower garden this year?! #chaosgardening #garden #wildflower #pnw ♬ BLOOM - Doechii
Similarly, creator and gardening enthusiast, Taylor (@tayyluh) flaunted her beautiful garden full of colorful blooms from native wild plants in a viral TikTok post with 19,000 likes. She claimed chaos gardening was ideal for anyone with a Type B personality wishing to plant a flower garden. “The results from last year’s chaos garden were unmatched,” Taylor captioned. People were impressed with her garden. A viewer, @busters_mama, said, “This is a lovely chaos garden. All the flowers are light and lithe.” “Honestly, it’s giving Secret Garden vibes, and I love it. So pretty!” shared @lauren_892.
Science backs chaos gardening
California, Santa Clara County, Woman working in vegetable garden (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Allyfromuk2us)
Chaos gardens echo nature and create an ecosystem for plants and wildlife, providing them with food and shelter. The free-spirited method of gardening rejects any traditional rules of spacing or timing and celebrates spontaneity and biodiversity, per Popular Science. It typically involves scattering a blend of seeds without a proper design for the garden beds or plants, and allowing natural selection processes to let them thrive. “It is a fun way to express yourself by embracing the beauty of randomness and the joy of seeing the unexpected unfold,” said Russell Taylor, Vice President of Live Earth Products Inc. in Utah, per Bob Vila.
Sally McCabe, associate director of community education at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, said, “Gardening is all about control—control the weeds, control the soil. Control what we grow, where we grow it, how we grow it, when we plant it," she adds. "Every once in a while, it's nice to take a break from all of that,” per Martha Stewart. Epic Gardening shared their take on chaos gardening methods on YouTube.
You can follow @meggrowsplants and @tayyluh on TikTok for more videos.