The Gardening skill is one of the many skills available in The Sims 4. It allows Sims to grow crops, care for plants, fertilize them, take cuttings for grafting, and improve the overall quality of their harvests.
In addition to being an enjoyable hobby, Gardening is also one of the most effective ways to earn Simoleons. Sims can begin developing this skill as early as the Teen life stage, giving them plenty of time to expand their garden and cultivate higher-quality plants.
The ideal emotion for improving the Gardening skill is Focused, as it helps Sims gain skill experience more efficiently while tending to their plants.
Upon reaching Level 10 Gardening, Sims unlock the Green Thumb achievement, signifying complete mastery of the skill.
Overview
The Gardening skill in The Sims 4 allows Sims to grow a wide variety of plants that can be sold for profit or used as ingredients in cooking. Higher-quality plants can also contribute to producing better-quality meals.
At the beginning, Sims are limited to basic gardening activities such as planting and watering crops. As the Gardening skill increases, additional abilities become available, including fertilizing plants, taking cuttings, grafting plants together, and experimenting to create entirely new plant varieties.
Regular plant maintenance, such as watering, removing weeds, and applying fertilizer, helps improve plant quality over time. Higher-quality plants generally have greater market value and produce more valuable harvests.
This guide covers the major aspects of Gardening in The Sims 4, including the fertilizer system, plant evolution, quality tiers, taking cuttings, and the grafting mechanic used to create hybrid plants.
Recommended Traits and Aspiration for Gardening
Choosing the right traits can help Sims develop the Gardening skill more efficiently. The following traits are particularly useful for Sims who spend a lot of time tending plants and maintaining a garden.
- Genius — Helps Sims gain the Focused mood more easily. Since Focused is one of the best emotions for improving the Gardening skill, this trait can significantly speed up skill progression.
- Loves Outdoors — Grants positive moodlets while Sims are outside, helping them maintain a good mood during long gardening sessions.
- Loner — A great choice for Sims who spend most of their time caring for plants on their own. This trait slows the decline of the Social need, allowing Sims to garden for longer periods without needing frequent social interactions.
The third trait can ultimately be chosen based on personal playstyle. However, Loner remains one of the most popular options for Sims dedicated to long-term gardening activities.
Freelance Botanist
For Sims who want to maximize the Gardening skill, Freelance Botanist is the most highly recommended aspiration.
This aspiration focuses on a wide range of gardening activities, including planting, maintaining crops, and improving plant quality.
In addition to providing clear progression goals, completing aspiration milestones rewards Sims with Satisfaction Points, which can be spent on a variety of useful rewards in the Reward Store.
Gardening Skill Levels
The four basic Gardening actions are Plant, Water, Weed, and Harvest. Each serves a different purpose:
- Plant — Plant seeds or crops.
- Water — Water plants to keep them healthy.
- Weed — Remove weeds growing around plants.
- Harvest — Collect produce from mature plants.
These basic interactions are available from the start of the game. To begin gardening, Sims simply need to purchase seed packets or harvest wild plants found throughout the world.
In addition to gardening activities, the Gardening skill can also be improved by reading Gardening skill books. As Sims gain levels, new abilities become available:
- Gardening Level 2 — Unlocks the Research Gardening interaction through Computer > Web > Research Gardening. This activity can help Sims gain the Focused mood.
- Gardening Level 3 — Unlocks the ability to apply Fertilizer to plants, helping them improve in quality more quickly.
- Gardening Level 4 — Sims can now Talk to Plants. This interaction helps fulfill the Social need while also providing Gardening skill experience.
- Gardening Level 5 — Unlocks Take Cutting and Graft, allowing Sims to combine two different plant types into a single plant.
- Gardening Level 6 — Unlocks the Weed Area interaction, allowing Sims to remove weeds from multiple plants at once.
- Gardening Level 7 — The Farmer and Uncommon Seed Packets become available for purchase. Sims also unlock Tend Garden, which allows them to water and weed an entire garden with a single command.
- Gardening Level 8 — Unlocks Super Sell, allowing Sims to sell all harvestable produce at once. Sims can also pay §50 to regrow a Bonsai Tree so it can be reshaped.
- Gardening Level 9 — All gardening interactions become more efficient. Sims can water plants and remove weeds more quickly than before.
- Gardening Level 10 — Unlocks the Rare Seed Packet, which costs §1,000. This packet contains a random rare plant and can be purchased multiple times to increase the chances of obtaining specific rare crops.
List of Plants in The Sims 4 (Base Game)
The base game of The Sims 4 features 35 different plants that Sims can collect and cultivate. These plants can be obtained through several methods, including harvesting wild plants found throughout the world, purchasing seed packets, or creating new varieties through the Grafting system.
Each plant has a different Rarity level, ranging from Common and Uncommon to Rare. Plants are also divided into several categories, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, and special plants.
The table below contains a complete list of all plants available in the base game, including their category and rarity.
| Image | Name | Rarity | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Apple | Common | Tree |
 | Basil | Common | Bush |
 | Bluebell | Common | Bush |
 | Carrot | Common | Plant |
 | Chrysanthemum | Common | Bush |
 | Daisy | Common | Bush |
 | Grape | Common | Bush |
 | Lemon | Common | Tree |
 | Mushroom | Common | Patch |
 | Parsley | Common | Plant |
 | Plantain | Common | Tree |
 | Sage | Common | Bush |
 | Snapdragon | Common | Flowers |
 | Spinach | Common | Bush |
 | Blackberry | Uncommon | Bush |
 | Cherry | Uncommon | Tree |
 | Lily | Uncommon | Flowers |
 | Onion | Uncommon | Plant |
 | Pear | Uncommon | Tree |
 | Potato | Uncommon | Plant |
 | Rose | Uncommon | Bush |
 | Strawberry | Uncommon | Bush |
 | Tomato | Uncommon | Bush |
 | Tulip | Uncommon | Flowers |
 | Bird of Paradise | Rare | Bush |
| Bonsai Buds | Rare | Shrub | |
 | Cow Berry | Rare | Other |
 | Dragonfruit | Rare | Plant |
 | Orchid | Rare | Flowers |
 | Pomegranate | Rare | Tree |
 | Trash Fruit | Uncommon | Bush |
 | U.F.O. (Unidentified Fruit Object) | Rare | Plant |
 | Death Flower | Common | Bush |
 | Growfruit | Common | Tree |
 | Forbidden Fruit of the PlantSim | Uncommon | Tree |
How to Buy Seeds
There are several ways to obtain seeds in The Sims 4. One of the easiest methods is through a computer by selecting Order > Purchase Seeds. Alternatively, players can click on a Garden Pot or Garden Planter Box and choose the Purchase Seeds option.
If you do not already have a place to grow plants, both Garden Pots and Garden Planter Boxes can be purchased through Build Mode > Objects by Function > Activities & Skills > Misc.
- Garden Pot — Holds a single plant.
- Garden Planter Box — Holds up to four plants at the same time.
While neither object is strictly required, since seeds can be planted directly in the ground, they are extremely useful for indoor gardening or areas with limited space.
When purchasing seeds, several packet types are available, including:
- Starter Flowers
- Fruits
- Herbs
- Vegetables
Each packet contains a random selection of common plants. Because of this, purchasing multiple packets can help Sims obtain a wider variety of crops more quickly.
As the Gardening skill increases, Uncommon and Rare Seed Packets also become available for purchase. These packets provide a much more convenient way to obtain rare plants than relying solely on the Grafting system or searching for specific plants in the wild.
Getting Started
After purchasing a few seed packets, the next step is to start gardening. This section covers the basics of the Gardening skill, including planting, maintenance, fertilizing, and harvesting crops.
1. Planting Crops
Place a fruit, vegetable, flower, or herb on the ground or inside a planter, depending on your preference. Once placed, click the item and select Plant.
After planting, crops must be watered regularly in order to grow and provide Gardening skill experience. As plants mature, weeds will eventually begin to appear, so it is important to check on them periodically and perform maintenance when needed.
If a plant becomes overgrown with weeds, click it and select Weed. Likewise, if the plant requires water, simply use the Water interaction.
2. Plant Health and Quality
Plants that are neglected, such as those left unwatered or covered in weeds, will gradually lose quality and stop progressing. If neglected for too long, they may eventually die.
Keeping plants healthy allows them to evolve into higher quality tiers over time. While evolution naturally takes time, the process can be accelerated through proper fertilization.
3. Spraying for Bugs
In the base game, plants can become infested with bugs. Pest infestations can damage plants and may kill them much faster than ordinary neglect.
Infested plants are usually covered with visible insects. To solve the problem, click the affected plant and select Spray for Bugs.
4. Fertilizing Plants
Plants can be fertilized using a variety of items, including harvested produce and other objects. However, fish are generally considered some of the best fertilizers in the game.
The more valuable a fish is, the better its fertilizing effect tends to be. In addition, certain fish species provide stronger fertilizer benefits than others.
The Fishing skill has excellent synergy with Gardening because it provides a reliable source of high-quality fertilizer. While fertilizer does not always make plants grow faster, it significantly improves the rate at which plant quality increases.
If your goal is to obtain Perfect-quality plants, it is recommended to use the Fertilize interaction whenever it becomes available. This interaction has a cooldown of approximately three to four days before it can be used on the same plant again.
If your Sim has access to Growfruit, the harvested fruit can be used as fertilizer. Growfruit is widely regarded as one of the best fertilizers in The Sims 4 due to its exceptional ability to improve plant quality.
5. Harvesting Crops
Plants follow a daily growth cycle that is periodically updated by the game. At certain times, the game checks whether a plant needs water, has grown weeds, or is ready to be harvested.
As plants mature, they produce harvestables until reaching their maximum output for that day. Because harvestables will return during future growth cycles, it is recommended to harvest crops regularly to maintain maximum production.
In addition, continue fertilizing plants whenever possible. Keeping fertilizer effects active will help plants evolve more quickly and produce higher-quality harvests over time.
Plant Quality
Plants in The Sims 4 have several quality tiers. Each time a plant evolves, its quality increases by one level. The quality tiers are as follows:
- Normal
- Nice
- Excellent
- Magnificent
- Perfect
Evolution
After being properly cared for over a period of time, plants will begin to sparkle. This indicates that the Evolve interaction is available.
Evolving a plant increases its quality by one tier, which in turn improves the quality of the fruits, vegetables, herbs, or flowers it produces. Harvestables from higher-quality plants are worth more Simoleons and can also be replanted to grow new plants of the same quality.
There is no advantage to delaying a harvest until after a plant evolves. The quality of a harvestable is determined when it appears on the plant, not when it is harvested.
For this reason, it is recommended to harvest crops as soon as they become available. Doing so allows the plant to continue producing new harvestables and helps it reach the next evolution stage more quickly.
Cuttings and Grafting
Before a Sim can take a cutting, the plant must grow to a sufficiently mature size. Taking multiple cuttings from the same plant within a short period can cause the plant to die, forcing the player to regrow it from scratch.
The Take Cutting and Graft interactions become available at Gardening Level 5.
Sims can take cuttings from many different plant types. However, if a cutting is taken from a grafted plant, the cutting will come from the plant’s original species rather than any grafted varieties attached to it.
Once a cutting has been obtained, Sims can use the Graft interaction to combine it with another plant. This process allows a single plant to produce multiple types of harvestables.
A plant can accept multiple grafts. However, after grafting, the plant will temporarily revert to a smaller growth stage. If you want to perform additional grafts, you must wait for the plant to mature again.
Uncommon and Rare plants can also be obtained through specific grafting combinations. However, their appearance rates are significantly lower than those of ordinary plants.
The approximate harvest chances based on rarity are:
- 500 for Common plants
- 100 for Uncommon plants
- 1 for Rare plants
In other words, roughly 1 out of every 600 harvestables has a chance of producing a Rare plant.
Grafting is an extremely useful feature because it reduces the number of plants that need to be maintained. For example, if you have 20 different plant species, you can combine several of them through grafting, significantly reducing the amount of gardening work required.
That said, adding too many grafts to a single plant can negatively affect its growth. Because of this, it is generally recommended to limit each plant to around 3–4 grafted varieties to maintain healthy growth and efficient harvest production.
Grafting Combinations
The table below contains the Grafting combinations that can be used to create new plants in The Sims 4. Each combination requires two specific plants to be joined using the Graft interaction, which becomes available at Gardening Level 5.
By using the correct combinations, Sims can obtain a variety of Uncommon and Rare plants that are not always easily available through seed packets or wild plant harvesting.
Grafting is especially valuable for collectors and players working toward completing the full plant collection, as it provides access to several exclusive hybrid plants that cannot be obtained through ordinary gardening methods alone.
| Plant A | Plant B | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Bluebells | Strawberry | Grapes |
| Sage | Basil | Parsley |
| Pear | Lemon | Plantain |
| Tulip | Chrysanthemum | Bird of Paradise |
| Daisy | Strawberry | Bonsai Buds |
| Grapes | Rose | Bonsai Buds |
| Dragonfruit | Snapdragon | Cowplant Berry |
| Strawberry | Snapdragon | Dragonfruit |
| Lily | Snapdragon | Orchid |
| Apple | Cherry | Pomegranate |
| Orchid | Pomegranate | Death Flower |
Causes of Plant Death and How to Revive Plants
Plants that are neglected for long periods of time can eventually die. For this reason, it is important to ensure that plants are regularly watered, kept free of weeds, and properly maintained.
In addition to neglect, plant death can also occur due to several other factors, including being destroyed by fire, trampled, or affected by certain interactions involving ghosts created by a Cowplant.
If a plant dies, it does not always need to be replaced with a new one. In many cases, players can revive the plant by paying approximately §100.
Once revived, the plant will begin growing again and will retain the same quality level it had before it died.
Cowplant
The Cowplant is one of the most unique and unusual special plants in The Sims 4. To grow one, Sims must first obtain a Cowplant Berry.
How to Get a Cowplant Berry
Through Grafting
Once a Sim reaches Gardening Level 5, they can use the Grafting feature to create a Cowplant Berry.
Required combination:
- Snapdragon + Dragonfruit = Cowplant Berry
Other Methods
In addition to grafting, Cowplant Berries can be obtained through several other methods:
- Exploring space with a Rocket Ship.
- Fishing in ponds around Oasis Springs.
- Fishing in the Forgotten Grotto Lake (the hidden area in Oasis Springs).
- Digging for treasure and collectibles.
- Purchasing Rare Seed Packets (random chance), which become available at Gardening Level 10.
How to Grow a Cowplant
After obtaining a Cowplant Berry, plant it directly in the ground and leave approximately two to three tiles of open space around it so the plant has enough room to grow.
Cowplants require the same basic care as other plants:
- Watering
- Removing weeds
- Applying fertilizer
A Cowplant takes roughly three days to reach full maturity. Once fully grown, it must be fed regularly using the Feed interaction.
In addition to feeding it, Sims can also:
- Name the Cowplant.
- Pet the Cowplant.
- Play with the Cowplant.
A Cowplant must be fed at least once every 12 hours. When it becomes hungry, it will dangle a cake-shaped lure from its tongue to attract nearby Sims.
If a Sim attempts to eat the cake, the Cowplant will swallow them and then spit them back out, giving the Sim the Drained moodlet. If that Sim attempts to eat the cake again before the moodlet expires, the Cowplant can kill them.
What Happens When a Cowplant Eats a Sim?
Whenever a Cowplant swallows a Sim, whether the Sim survives or not, it produces milk that can be collected using the Milk interaction.
The type of milk produced depends on the emotional state the Sim was experiencing when they were swallowed. These milk types are known as Essences and include:
- Angry — Essence of Anger
- Bored — Essence of Boredom
- Confident — Essence of Confidence
- Dazed — Essence of Daze
- Uncomfortable — Essence of Discomfort
- Embarrassed — Essence of Embarrassment
- Energized — Essence of Energy
- Flirty — Essence of Flirtation
- Focused — Essence of Focus
- Happy — Essence of Happiness
- Inspired — Essence of Inspiration
- Playful — Essence of Playfulness
- Sad — Essence of Sadness
- Stressed — Essence of Stress
If the Cowplant successfully kills a Sim, the resulting milk becomes The Essence of Life.
When consumed by another Sim, The Essence of Life extends that Sim’s lifespan by several days, making it one of the most valuable and unusual rewards associated with the Cowplant.
Making Money from Harvests
Once harvested, all produce is stored in the Sim’s inventory. Harvestables can be sold by dragging them into the sell area or by opening a stack and selling items individually.
If you want to keep some harvestables for replanting or cooking, first place the items you wish to save onto a table or another surface. Afterward, sell the remaining harvestables from the inventory and then return the saved items to your inventory when needed.
The most convenient way to sell produce is directly from the plant by selecting the Sell All interaction. Once a Sim reaches Gardening Level 8, the Super Sell interaction becomes available, allowing all harvestables from a plant to be sold at once.
Conclusion
The Gardening skill in The Sims 4 is one of the best ways to earn Simoleons while also providing high-quality ingredients for cooking. Sims can begin gardening as early as the Teen life stage and improve their abilities through planting, watering, weeding, fertilizing, and grafting new plant varieties.
As the Gardening skill increases, several advanced features become available, including Fertilize, Take Cutting, Graft, Tend Garden, and Super Sell, making garden management significantly more efficient. Plant quality can be improved through regular care and fertilization until it reaches the Perfect quality tier, resulting in highly valuable harvests.
The Grafting system allows players to obtain rare plants, including the Cowplant Berry, which can be used to grow a Cowplant, one of the most unique plants in the game.
With proper plant care, the right traits and aspiration, and effective use of the grafting system, Gardening can become both a highly profitable and rewarding long-term activity for any Sim.
