But gardeners who have been at it a long time will tell you, “Oh no, there are certainly rules.” Or at least, principles. Still, the carefully curated, highly landscaped parterre of the past is long gone, and what the internet has dubbed as chaos gardening—a laidback, wild, and slightly reckless growing style—is “in.”

“Chaos gardening is a low-maintenance approach where you mix a variety of seeds—annuals, perennials, herbs, veggies, whatever you have—scatter them across a prepared plot, and let nature largely take the lead,” Katie Dubow, president of Garden Media Group and author of the annual Garden Trends Report, tells Better Homes & Gardens. “The result is a wildflower-style, ever-changing garden that’s messy, unpredictable, and beautiful.”

Better Homes & Gardens/© Anna Omiotek-Tott

“It’s about steering away from harsh, imposed geometric lines and having softer, organic shapes that work within the landscape,” Jo Thompson, award-winning garden designer, multigold medal winner at the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show, and author behind The Gardening Mind, explains. “I use plants as architecture wherever possible, rather than relying on vast amounts of hard landscaping. The idea is that the garden becomes a beautiful, romantic, easy, relaxing place to be—for us, and for pollinators and birds alike.”

So, how can you pull it off? Our experts continue explaining chaos gardening below, and even share their favorite gardening supplies for recreating the carefree look at home.

Shop These Expert Gardener-Approved Picks

• Park Seed Grow-Your-Own Perennial Wildflower Garden Seeds Mixture, $22
• Artawein Niteangel Hanging Natural Wooden Bee House, $23
• Behrens 2-Quart Flat Tub, $18
• Yishang 6-Pack Large Terracotta Pots, $26 (was $30)
• Centurion 193 All-Steel Anvil Pruner, $27
• Mulctun 45-Lbs Natural Pea Gravel, $70
• Groovboo 3-Foot Natural Bamboo Plant Stakes, $27
• The New Romantic Garden by Jo Thompson, $45 (was $50)
• Hoselink 100-Foot Automatic Retractable Hose Garden Reel, $259

Park Seed Grow-Your-Own Perennial Wildflower Garden Seeds Mixture

Credit: Amazon

“That said, it’s not simply tossing seeds and walking away,” Dubrow explains. “That’s just a buffet for birds and squirrels. You still need to prep the soil, scatter seeds strategically (larger ones first for even coverage), cover lightly with compost, and do occasional light maintenance to fend off invasives and pests. Think of it as guided wildness rather than total abandonment.”

This mixture from Park Seed—one of Dubow’s favorite seed brands—is your entryway. Inside the quarter-pound bag is a low-maintenance blend of North American native wildflowers that “support pollinators” and are “less palatable to deer,” according to Dubrow. Blooms include black-eyed susan, aster, coneflower, and more.

“The magic is in the second year, when plants naturalize, self-seed, and compete for dominance,” Dubrow adds. “That’s when the chaos garden truly takes on a life of its own.”

Artawein Niteangel Hanging Natural Wooden Bee House

Credit: Amazon

An off-the-beaten track hack that Thompson swears by is stacking a log pile habitat. She recommends “using kiln-dried logs of varying sizes in a shady, moist corner of the garden.” “I think of [it] as a wildlife apartment block—shelter for hedgehogs, frogs, and beetles, and a boost to biodiversity that costs almost nothing to create.”

Of course, “If you don’t have space to stack your own log pile, a good insect hotel does much the same job. This one mimics the textures and cavities of natural deadwood, and provides a ready-made home for solitary bees, ladybirds, and other beneficial insects. Tuck it into a sheltered spot and let the wildlife move in.”

Behrens 2-Quart Flat Tub

Credit: Amazon

“To recreate one of the looks I created for the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show in 2023”—as pictured above—“a galvanized tub placed on a rustic surface brings a beautiful worn quality I love.” Thompson adds, “The kind of thing that looks as though it has always been there. Fill it with terracotta pots, use it as a water feature, or simply let it weather naturally in the garden.”

Yishang 6-Pack Large Terracotta Pots

Credit: Amazon

Speaking of terracotta pots, Thompson recommends this six-pack from Amazon that “will weather beautifully over time, acquiring that lovely, chalky patina that makes them look as though they belong in the garden rather than having just arrived from a shop.”

“Use them grouped together, as in the Hampton Court garden, or choose larger ones and use them dotted through the planting as natural focal points,” Thompson recommends.

Centurion 193 All-Steel Anvil Pruner

Credit: Amazon

“Pruners are the most versatile cutting tool in your kit, useful for trimming perennials, shrubs, and small branches,” Dubrow says. “Centurion’s Anvil pruners are a standout option, requiring less force than traditional pruners thanks to their ratcheting mechanism, with a sharp stainless steel blade and ergonomic soft-grip handles for extended use.”

It’s a must-have, especially for anyone with arthritis or who struggles with general hand or wrist pain.

Mulctun 45-lb Natural Pea Gravel

Credit: Amazon

Chaos gardens are very similar to cottage gardens in that it’s impossible to decipher where one plant’s growth ends and another’s begins. There are very few straight rows, distinct borders, or landscaped grass in chaos gardening—only freeform growth—and pea gravel can add some necessary shape.

“Pale gravel underfoot softens a space in a way that hard paving rarely does,” Thompson says. “It allows plants to self-seed through it naturally, so over time, the path becomes part of the planting rather than a division from it. This is exactly the kind of gentle, organic approach that I follow.”

Groovboo 3-Foot Natural Bamboo Plant Stakes

Credit: Amazon

Whenever possible, stray away from rigid, manmade structures—even those designed to support plants and encourage growth. Instead, opt for bamboo plant stakes.

Thompson calls them “a simple, inexpensive, and completely natural choice for supporting climbing plants” and further adds that “bamboo stakes can be arranged into teepees or loosely woven structures that disappear quickly beneath the planting.” Plus, “their natural texture means vines grip easily without any additional tying,” she says.

‘The New Romantic Garden’ by Jo Thompson

Credit: Amazon

If nothing else, Thompson’s 2025 book The New Romantic Garden is a love letter to the unfiltered beauty of chaos gardening. Each of the book’s 240 pages encourages “the philosophy behind everything here: Gardens that are beautiful, romantic, and relaxed, designed as much for pollinators and birds as well as for the people who use them.” It even features do-it-yourself garden designs and plans.

Hoselink 100-Foot Automatic Retractable Hose Garden Reel

Credit: Better Homes & Gardens

Last but not least, the right hose can actually make or break your chaos gardening success. With so many perennials growing this way and that, and with no harshly drawn borders to accommodate, you need a quality hose and retractable hose reel to make a strong impact with very little effort on your part.

“Hoselink offers options for every garden type: a retractable hose reel for general use, a sprinkler hose for long rectangular areas like lawns or wide beds, and a soaker hose for direct watering in garden beds, ideal for placing under a light layer of mulch to minimize water loss to evaporation,” Dubrow explains.