Garden Locations
Neighbor’s Garden
Suburban Flats is a small map compared to all the others, and this in turn influences the Gardens you defend in this level. The neighbor’s Garden is surrounded by fencing, but the perimeter is so small that once the zombies breach it, they’ll be at the Garden within moments. Additionally, there’s not a ton of cover to use. Cactus players will want to use Tall-nut Battlements to “finish” the fence off at three key locations [1] [2] [3], or alternatively they can set Potato Mines to surprise the zombies. One nice thing is that the compact nature of this zone means that your Potted Plants can often overlap their effects, greatly enhancing them.
[4] The raised patio that overlooks the Garden to the southeast is an excellent place for plants to post themselves. They’ll be able catch zombies both inside and outside of the perimeter.
Another valid tactic is for the Peashooter to use Hyper to climb up on the roof of the house next to the Garden. This will keep you relatively safe from the zombies, at least until they bring their own guns to vanquish you with.
Picnic Park Garden
The Garden inside the picnic park has the same problem that the neighbor’s Garden has: the territory it occupies is small, and once the enemy gets past the perimeter, they’re practically right next to the Garden itself.
[5] To the west of the Garden are two small stairways that lead to some houses next to the cul-de-sac. Block these off with Tall-nut Battlements and Potato Mines, or keep at least one player in a four-plant team in this area to watch for surprise groups of zombies.
[6] On the southern side of the park, you find another pair of stairways, also easily blocked off by Tall-nuts or Potato Mines. Next to one of the stairways is a wooden platform [7] that can act as a forward post that overlooks the southern entrances to the park, and can provide some protection from the zombies.
[8] The eastern side of the park is dominated by the tree house, a prime location for Cactus players to take up a post and snipe at incoming zombies. The Peashooter Variants can also do well here, and with the height advantage of the tree house, combined with Hyper, they can quickly cross the whole park in a few leaps to help put down zombie incursions closer to the Garden.
Trailer Park Garden
The trailer park isn’t the nicest part of the neighborhood, and presents its own challenges for the plants to deal with: uneven terrain and lots of obstacles to use for cover, which makes it tough to cover absolutely every angle, even under ideal conditions with a full team of plants.
[9] The hill to the southeast of the Garden is a major approach route for the zombie horde, with only one Potted Plant at the top of the hill to help slow them down.
[10] On the north side of the trailer park is a fence with two gaps in it, next to a dirt road that takes you past the location for the neighbor’s Garden. Zombies attacking from this direction have the most direct path to the Garden, so try to lock down at least one of the fence gaps.
[11] Zombies will also attack from the houses across the street. More aggressive players using the Peashooter might consider posting themselves atop the homes to try and plug zombies crossing the street, but this can be a bad move during later waves, where you’ll want to be close to healing support when heavier and nastier zombies start coming out to play.