Chaos Gardening: Use Up Old Seed Packets

Chaos gardening is simple: tip your leftover seed packets into one bowl, mix them up and scatter the lot over a bed. Whatever comes up, grows. It’s a fun way to use old seed that would otherwise end up in the bin. If you’re after a whole garden that looks relaxed and wild, see the guide to the wild overgrown garden trend instead.

It does need a little help to look good. Left alone, a few big, fast plants take over. This guide shows how to sow a chaos bed, when to do it in the UK, and the one quick job in May that makes the biggest difference.

What is chaos gardening?

Chaos gardening means scattering a mix of unrelated seed onto open ground, with no rows and no set depth. It’s an old idea, broadcast sowing, given a playful new name.

The best reason to do it is the seed drawer. Most of us have half-used packets that were opened for a few plants and never finished. Seed doesn’t last forever. Parsnip seed is best used within a year, while tomato and cabbage-family seed keeps for a few years. A chaos bed uses it up before it’s past it.

Tip in the part-used packets and give them a stir. That’s the whole planning stage done.

How to sow a chaos garden

Choose a sunny bed and get it ready first. Chaos seed can’t compete with grass or weed roots.

1. Clear the bed. Pull weeds and remove grass. Don’t add compost or fertiliser, as rich soil gives leafy plants with fewer flowers.
2. Rake to a fine surface. Small seed needs crumbly soil to settle into.
3. Mix seed with dry sand. Use about four handfuls of sand to one of seed. Sand shows you where the seed has landed and stops you dumping it all in one spot.
4. Scatter thinly. Use half the mix walking one way across the bed, then the rest walking the other way. Tipping out whole packets is far too thick.
5. Rake lightly and firm. Gently rake the surface, then press it down with the back of the rake or your boots. Good contact with the soil helps small seed come up.
6. Water if dry. Use a fine rose so the seed doesn’t wash into puddles.

If you’d like to compare this with sowing annuals in trays or rows, see the guide on growing annuals from seed.

Mixing the seed with sand makes it easy to see where you’ve been. Two passes in different directions gives the most even cover.

When to sow a chaos garden in the UK

Sow from mid-April to May, once the soil has warmed and dried a little. Seed scattered into cold, wet soil in March often rots or gets eaten by slugs.

Hardy annuals sown in September sit as small plants over winter, then flower earlier the next summer.

You can also sow in September. Hardy annuals such as poppies, cornflowers and calendula then grow small plants over winter and flower earlier the next summer. Tender seed, like cosmos or nasturtium, won’t survive winter, so keep that for spring. In Scotland and the north, sow a week or two later in spring. The guide to the easiest flowers to grow from seed lists good ones for a mix.

Which plants take over a chaos bed?

Big-seeded, fast plants nearly always win. In most mixes that means:

• Calendula (pot marigold), which soon makes a wide mound of orange flowers
• Borage, which grows tall and leafy with blue starry flowers
• Nasturtium, which sprawls over everything near it
• Phacelia, a fast, ferny plant with lilac-blue flowers

Big seeds carry more food, so these plants put out large leaves within days. They shade smaller seedlings, such as foxgloves, before those have even got going. So a chaos bed isn’t that random. You can usually guess the winners from the size of the seeds.

Calendula can fill a chaos bed by midsummer. The small seedlings in the gaps rarely catch up unless you thin.

The one job that makes it work: thinning in May

Thin the bed once in May, when most seedlings have a few true leaves. Pull out about half the calendula and most of the borage and nasturtium. Leave clear gaps around any small seedlings you want to keep.

It only takes a few minutes on a small bed, and it makes a big difference. Smaller plants get the light while they’re young, and many more kinds reach flowering. Leave it until late June and the slow ones will already be weak and leggy.

If you’re not sure what a seedling is, leave it until you can tell. The guide to self-seeding plants shows which common annuals come back on their own.

Have a good look under the big plants in May. Anything small and being shaded is worth giving some space.

Is chaos gardening good for wildlife?

A chaos bed is great for bees. Borage, phacelia and calendula are busy with bumblebees from early summer, and the list of bee-friendly garden plants has more to add to your mix. It’s not a wildflower meadow, though. A meadow is a mix of native plants on poor soil that builds up over several years. A chaos bed is mostly garden annuals that last one summer.

That’s fine in a garden bed. Just don’t scatter leftover garden seed on verges, hedge banks or near wild meadows, where it can spread. Check what’s in any mix before you use it outside the garden. For real native habitat, follow the guide to making a wildflower meadow.

Chaos beds grow thick and leafy, so cats love them as cover. Push a few twiggy sticks into newly sown soil if yours likes to dig.

Chaos garden calendar

Common chaos gardening mistakes

• Sowing into weeds or grass. Seedlings can’t compete with established roots. Clear the bed first.
• Tipping out whole packets. Too much seed gives crowded, weak seedlings. Mix with sand and scatter thinly.
• Leaving seed on the surface. Rake lightly and firm, or birds and dry weather take it.
• Sowing too early. Cold, wet soil rots seed. Wait until mid-April.
• Never thinning. A few big plants take over. One thinning in May fixes it.
• Using it as a meadow. Keep garden seed in the garden, away from wild places.

Frequently asked questions

What is chaos gardening?

It’s mixing leftover seed packets and scattering them over one bed. Nothing goes in rows or at a set depth. Whatever comes up is left to grow together. It’s a cheerful way to use up old seed before it loses its oomph.

Does chaos gardening actually work?

Yes, you get a bed of flowers, but it’s patchy. A few fast growers tend to take over and smaller seedlings get smothered. Prepare the soil, firm the seed in and thin once in May, and far more of the mix reaches flower.

When should I start a chaos garden in the UK?

Mid-April to May is the best time for most mixes. Seed sown into cold, wet soil in March often rots or gets eaten. Hardy annuals such as poppies, cornflowers and calendula can also be sown in September for earlier flowers next year.

Which plants take over a chaos garden?

Calendula, borage, nasturtium and phacelia usually take over. They have big seeds, come up fast and spread wide leaves early. Borage can grow tall and shade everything beneath it. Pull out some of them in May so smaller plants get the light.

Can you chaos garden vegetables?

You can, but it’s hard to harvest and most crops struggle. Slow vegetables such as carrots and beetroot soon get shaded by flowers. Quick crops like radish, rocket and salad leaves have the best chance. For a proper crop, sow vegetables in rows.

Is chaos gardening good for wildlife?

It’s good for bees, but it isn’t a wildflower meadow. Borage, phacelia and calendula are busy with bees all summer. Most leftover garden seed isn’t native, though, so keep chaos beds inside the garden. For wild habitat, sow a native mix on poor soil instead.

Now you know how to make a chaos bed bloom, try making seed bombs with your leftover seed, or find more ideas in the growing section.