Gardenless is a PC remaster of Plants vs. Zombies 2 with lots of changes: new plants, reworks, keyboard controls, an online web build, epic quests that unlock plants, and whole new levels (like Kung Fu Temple).

If you play Gardenless, you’ll notice some plants were buffed, some reworked, and others glued into niche roles. Below I break down the plants the community cares about, rank the most relevant ones, and give simple tips so you can pick the best crew for Gardenless levels.

What makes Gardenless different

• PC-first features: keybinds for seeds, mouse-wheel plant food, and settings to tweak difficulty or revert to vanilla UI.
• Epic Quests: beat certain extra levels to unlock reworked or new plants.
• Reworked plants: several plants keep the same name but play very differently (Ice Shroom, Doomshroom, Seashroom, Electric Current, Vampirini, etc.).
• No microtransactions: diamond shop exists but only for unlocks, not pay-to-win purchases.
• Arcade & sandbox modes: experiment with plants and spawn zombies freely — great for testing combos.

Quick top picks (S-tier)

These are the plants most worth farming or unlocking first.

• Electric Current — S
  Extremely strong with Electric Reed combos. Stunning + high synergy makes it a top pick on crowded levels.
• Scaredy / Seashroom — S
  The new Seashroom works on land now and Scaredy’s pushback/pellet changes are huge. Both are cheap, flexible, and powerful.
• Fume Shroom — S
  Same idea as classic: area pierce help a lot when levels are spammy.
• Heavenly Peach — S
  A healing aura that covers nearby plants — best support plant in many setups.

Strong choices (A-tier)

Solid performers you’ll use often.

• Ice Shroom (Iceoom) — A
  Reworked to freeze the whole lawn when clicked, then wakes up to be used again. Very satisfying and powerful control tool.
• Doomshroom — A
  Works like the classic doom effect — reliable heavy-clear for tight situations.
• Umbrella Leaf — A
  Now much more useful vs. flying threats and projectiles. Pair it with Spring Bean / Torchwood for lane denial.

Mid picks (B / C)

Useful in certain strategies but not universal.

• Fire Gourd — B
  Active-tap damage like old Jack-o’-Lantern; good for destroying weapon stands and certain hazards but needs attention to use well.
• Bamboo Shot — B
  Burrows and attacks through tiles — niche use for avoiding damage, but modest raw damage.
• Gatling / high-cost shooters — C
  High sun cost limits usage in fast levels; fine when you have long setups but not always optimal.
• Peppercini / piercing variants — C
  Piercing helps but depends on level pace and sun availability.

Low priority / situational (D)

Locked, editor-only, or too expensive for regular use.

• Sky Shooter / arcade-only heavy plants — D (for now) Some plants are only accessible via save editor or arcade; treat them as experimental until they’re officially released.
• Plantern / niche lamps — D Handy in a couple of levels but rarely worth the slot otherwise.

Full concise tier list (community quick reference)

• S: Electric Current, Scaredy/Seashroom, Fume Shroom, Heavenly Peach
• A: Ice Shroom, Doomshroom, Umbrella Leaf, Gloom/Gloomshroom (if you like shadow builds)
• B: Fire Gourd, Bamboo Shot, Resistant Radish (situational), Vampirini (improved but niche)
• C: Peppercini, some high-cost peas / Gatling variants, Plantern (depends)
• D: Sky Shooter, Floaterpaw, arcade-only heavy plants, a few editor-only plants

How to build teams (simple rules)

1. Start with stun/control — Electric Current + Electric Reed or Fume Shroom covers crowded levels and combos well.
2. Add a reliable AoE clear — Doomshroom or Ice Shroom handles big waves or weapon stands.
3. Support & sustain — Heavenly Peach keeps low-toughness defenders alive (great with Resistant Radish).
4. Utility slot — Umbrella Leaf or Seashroom for level-specific threats (fliers, falling enemies).
5. Sun curve — Don’t overfill with expensive plants; many Gardenless levels are short or spammy.

Gardenless refreshes PVZ2 in ways that reward experimentation. Some plants became outright better, others moved into niche roles. If you focus on the S/A picks (Electric Current, Scaredy/Seashroom, Fume Shroom, Ice Shroom, Heavenly Peach), and practice combos in the sandbox, you’ll breeze through most levels and have fun doing it.