Garden Locations
Pumpkin Patch Garden
The pumpkin patch is the largest Garden location on the map, and is one of the harder areas to defend. While there are only two primary approach routes (one from the south side of the mansion, and one from the northern side), there’s just too much space for even four plants to reasonably cover, particularly on later waves.
The first defensive line of the pumpkin patch begins a very short way away from the mansion’s western wall. The southern [1] and northern [2] approaches are separated enough that lone players might have trouble running between both points during the later waves. Fortunately, the entire front line has many locations to set up Potted Plants, which can somewhat alleviate the pressure.
The second defense line is a short distance west of the first, and is also divided into southern [3] and northern [4] routes. If enemies get this far, do your best to hold them here. Your back is up against the wall almost literally, as beyond the second line there’s little in the way of natural defenses standing between the zombies and the Garden.
[5] With open ground between the second line and the Garden, plants that are pushed back to this point might be in serious trouble during later waves. Cactus Plants should save Corn Strikes for these critical moments!
Haunted Grove Garden
The haunted grove behind the estate is tricky to defend, as you can expect enemies attacking from the west [6] and the east [7]. The terrain is bumpy, and filled with enough cover to interfere with longer-ranged shots.
[8] The Garden itself is placed atop a hill that has good lines of sight on both major access points. Cactus players should leverage this advantage against the enemy, acting as overwatch to the frontliners, using their Corn Strikes to devastate formations of enemies already being tied up by other plants. Peashooters can rack up some serious points with well-timed uses of Hyper and Chili Bean Bombs on clusters of enemies coming from either direction. Alternatively, they can also set up on the hill next to the Garden and hose down zombies with the Pea Gatling.
Cryptyard Garden
Reaching the Cryptyard Garden means the zombies must pass through one of three entrances along the brick wall surrounding the yard itself. Should the zombies breach that wall, plants on the inside will find themselves in trouble. While there is some cover near the Garden scattered throughout the yard, there’s not a lot of it. Many of the Potted Plants that can be set up for defense are actually located on the outside of the wall.
Each of the wall entrances are small enough that a Cactus or two can effectively bar passage through them with a well-placed Tall-nut or Potato Mine trap. Peashooters, in particular the starting variant, can do some great work, as their basic attack has an area of effect, and the passages will cause the zombies to clump up.
[9] The northern wall passage gives zombies a straight shot right at the Garden. In a full Garden Ops team, you want at least one plant per entrance, with the fourth plant acting as a sweeper/troubleshooter of sorts. If any one door looks like it might be getting overrun, the sweeper can help deal with it.
[10] Reaching the central passage requires more legwork from the zombies. One possible plan is to deliberately get the zombie horde’s attention, and draw them toward this middle passage to vanquish large numbers of the enemy with special abilities like Potato Mines or Chili Bean Bombs. Cactus’ Corn Strike is sadly ineffective here, as the central passage is protected by a rooftop.
[11] The southern passage is another straight shot at the Garden, but zombies will have to walk a little bit farther to reach it from this direction.