Chaos Gardening, a recent trend

I try to stay informed on current gardening trends, so when I heard the new-to-me term “chaos gardening” I went into sleuth mode. Chaos gardening has recently gone viral on TikTok. One site describes it thus: “… letting go of the strict rules that come along with gardening and letting mother nature do the work instead” and “a haphazard and laid-back approach to gardening in which rules and meticulous garden planning are thrown out the window.”

Condensed version: Gather seeds packets, mix them together, and throw them on prepared (tilled, and raked if that is your choice) soil without a plan. Just writing that last sentence made me uncomfortable. I like plants to be arranged in groups of threes or fives, growing into each other in a lush tapestry that is casual but meticulously planned. A random jumble might sound romantic and low maintenance, but tall plants will shade out the shorter ones. Aggressive plants will overtake their delicate neighbors. Weeding will be difficult in the garden’s early stages, because desired plants cannot be distinguished from the undesirables. Seeds vary in their proper planting depths, so some may perish if they are sown too deep or too shallowly. And some seeds need light to germinate, while others need darkness. The advocates of chaos gardening always say, “some seeds won’t come up, and that’s okay.” Maybe for others, but not for me.

I start scrutinizing seed catalogs in late winter, planning new color schemes and flower bed expansions. I allow my imagination to run wild but I reel it in before ordering. By mid-spring, my catalogs are dog-eared and well worn from being thumbed through frequently. Some folks have elegant coffee-table books. My version is the current Baker Creek’s The Whole Seed Catalog, 532 colored pages of luscious heirlooms and recipes that makes me consider turning one of our pastures into a food plot. Then the temporary insanity fades and I return to a more restrained approach. My seed choices are intentional, purposeful, and not part of a random mix.

Chaos gardening is not the same as guerilla gardening, where one spreads seeds onto property they don’t own, like vacant lots or public areas. The intent is to beautify waste places or provide pollinator habitat. Don’t mistake chaos gardening for cottage gardening, either. Cottage gardens may be an informal mixture of annuals, perennials, grasses, herbs, and edibles but they are carefully planned, not random.

If the idea of chaos gardening appeals to you, start with a small area first and select seeds that germinate easily, have similar light requirements, and are not overly aggressive in their growth habits: cosmos, zinnias, marigolds, echinacea, celosia are good for sunny areas. Keep notes of what you sow so that you have an idea of what is emerging. Send me photos of your successes!

What is a Cottage Garden?

Cottage gardens evolved from Victorian kitchen gardens. “Cottage” meant a small, informal home on a small lot. These were homes of workers, not nobility. Working class folks had little leisure time for complicated pruning, lawncare, or rows of plants transferred from a hothouse. Their garden plots were originally used for food cultivation. Over time, food gave way to flowers or a combination of food and flora.

Cottage gardens share main elements. A white picket fence, stone walls, or clipped evergreen hedges (boxwood or privet) often define the perimeter. Informal paths of woodchips, gravel, bricks, or stepping stones lead the visitor through the garden. Any concrete paths are softened by allowing flowers to billow over the edges. Trellises, sundials, birdbaths, benches or planters are focal features, while the plantings themselves are a combination of shrubs, annuals and perennials, with emphasis on flowers of many colors and shapes These may be planted in graduated heights with taller plants at back, or sited in a patchwork arrangement, with tall specimens at front, back and throughout, living shoulder to shoulder with shorter companions. To accommodate the contrasting heights, borders are typically deep and grass lawns are limited in size. Sometimes turf only appears as a mowed walking strip between flower beds. Seen from a distance, the cottage garden is a riot of color. Plants are meant to spread and lean into one another, with little or no visible spaces between.

Roses, coneflowers, daisies, Nicotiana, and foxgloves are traditional favorites for the cottage garden. Sweet peas are also a traditional choice but they are short-lived in southeastern heat. Likewise, I have attempted to grow Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla) and killed it each attempt, so have moved onto plants that are more tolerant of heat and neglect. Some of my friends in cooler zones report their Lady’s Mantle is so prolific it borders on invasive. I am envious.

Herbs such as rosemary or thyme offer fragrance in cottage beds, and lamb’s ears, dusty miller or Artemesia are commonly used to provide a sensory element. Flowering vines such as jasmine, honeysuckle or Clematis can be grown on a trellis or tuteur to introduce a vertical element. Small flowering trees can do the same. Redbud, dogwood, crabapple or flowering cherry add both color and height.

The goal is to have flowers in bloom through the entire growing season. My favorite long-flowering perennials are tall Phlox, dwarf butterfly bush (Buddleia), Lantana, Bee Balm (Monarda), and coneflower (Echinacea). My favorite annuals are Melampodium, Four O’ Clocks (Mirabilis), Spider flower (Cleome), and Cosmos, all of which reseed readily, withstand heat, tolerate a wide range of soils, and need little maintenance other than deadheading. For cool season flowers, Johnny Jump Ups (Viola) are outstanding and they reseed readily.

Several shades of Four O’ Clocks mingle with white Nicotiana and a blue Mophead Hydrangea. Magenta Rose Campion is at the back of the bed. Orange and yellow daylilies are at the right, near the birdbath.