I really enjoy gardening in The Sims 2. It is somewhat different to what we had in The Sims 3 and now, in The Sims 4.
First of all from build mode you have to place earth dirt, one square at a time, just like laying a foundation. Then the Sim can fertilize each square before digging and planting the seeds.
There wasn't much to choose from by way of seeds. When starting out, a Sim can only plant tomatoes, however, once a gold talent badge had been acquired for the gardening skill, a Sim could then plant tomatoes, cucumber, strawberries, pole beans, peppers and eggplant which was the majority of seeds available.
Purchasing a ladybug loft will keep all the bad bugs away from your plants and having a compost bin allows your Sim to compost all kitchen waste, and even the newspaper, to use for fertilizing the earth next time you want to plant something.
Gardening seemed a lot harder in The Sims 2. If you overwatered your plants, they would drown and die. Talking to your plants kept them happy and vibrant, allowing their health level to increase, but this could only be done once you had a gold talent badge for gardening. Once this is achieved, it is a lot easier to keep your plants happy but until your Sim gets to that point, keeping your plants happy is hard work.
There were three trees available in gardening in The Sims 2, namely Ambrosial Lemon, Ambrosial Orange and Ambrosial Apple, all of which can be purchased fully grown from the gardening section in build mode.
These trees need to be trimmed, which is something we didn't have again in future The Sims releases. Trimming your trees keeps them happy and of course, as with all plants in The Sims 2, talking to them keeps them healthy and all plants then give great quality fruit and vegetables. All produce can be placed in the refrigerator for future use and if you have a juicer, fruit and vegetables can be placed in there for a fresh and healthy drink!
Bushes, such as rose bushes, and hedges all bought from build mode would grow, spurting out little shoots that had to be trimmed. This is something that we never had again in The Sims. Weeds would also grow not just within plants but on the grass too.
I have quite a few little snippets of gardening in The Sims 2 so decided to pop them all in a video.
Do you enjoy gardening in The Sims 2? Or perhaps you prefer gardening in The Sims 3 or maybe 4, or maybe a mixture of each? Let me know in the comment section below!
Cheers!
- Minicart (Jules)
