Update Location
Enter a ZIP code to get product recommendations and information tailored to your area.
What GTA taught me about gardening
What GTA Taught Me About Gardening
Yes, seriously: The hyper-popular game has a few lessons that can amp up your yard
By: Zak Wojnar
I know, I know: Videogames and gardening might seem like polar opposites. One involves getting dirt under your nails outside in the sun, while the other involves sitting on the couch, maybe in a dark basement, and literally twiddling your thumbs.
But with Grand Theft Auto VI on the horizon and poised to break records as the biggest entertainment launch of all time, I found myself thinking about the interplay between these two favorite pursuits of mine. The truth is, I actually learned a few valuable gardening lessons from Rockstar Games’ masterpiece, the GTA series.
Everyone needs time to commune with nature
A surprising lesson to learn from a videogame, but even city-bound badasses need to get some greenery.
In GTA: While the older Grand Theft Auto games focused exclusively on urban sprawl, later games, like GTA V, give us deserts and nature trails. GTA VI ups the ante with a region based on the Everglades, called the Grassrivers, complete with mossy swamps filled with alligators and flamingos. The game will also include Mount Kalaga National Park, which is populated by animals like cougars, deer, and foxes.
IRL Lesson: Exploring and admiring this virtual bounty of nature subtly reminds gamers to get outside. Or at least it did for me when sessions stretched on too long. Stroll through the yard and bird-watch, tend to your herbs, or just lie on the grass. Life depends on the balance of screen and green.
Your patience will be rewarded
Most successes start small and take time, work, and a lot of moxie.
In GTA: When the game first launched in 2013, game modes were mostly limited to death matches and simple races. As the years went by, however, new modes, missions, and criminal ventures evolved. By 2026, players could form biker gangs, become CEOs of their own criminal empires, and partake in prison breaks and bank heists. They could even race flying jet biked equipped with missiles across the skies of San Andreas.
IRL Lesson: The slow build applies to your yard, too. Back when I lived at the beach in Far Rockaway, New York, I built quite the beginner's garden in front of my cozy bungalow. But sunflowers don't sprout overnight. It took time, lots of watering, some failures, and making sure that the neighborhood's infamous stray cats wouldn't turn my would-be garden into their de facto litter-box. Eventually, though, I was rewarded with towering stalks of bright blonde petals and the pride of being a proud plant papa. You've got to level up, little by little.
Beyond GTA: Videogames gone green
You may know that Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, and Stardew Valley feature gardening as a core mechanic, but many other videogames incorporate plants in more subtle ways. A few of my favorites:
Far Cry 3
- The Rook Islands are full of flowers that can be picked to compose medicines that boost health, detect predatory animals, and improve accuracy.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
- One of the standout moments (in a game full of them!) has Cloud and local flower girl Aerith make a bouquet to deliver to the local orphanage.
Metal Gear Solid V
- The final entry of the Metal Gear saga allows protagonist Venom Snake to collect plants like African peach, Digitalis lutea, and tarragon to craft various supplies.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- There’s a whole side quest about building a garden on planet Koboh, to the point where you’ll spend as much time searching for seeds as you will fighting Stormtroopers.
Mow. Your. Lawn.
A basic task, but an unmissable one.
In GTA: Grand Theft Auto VI is set in Vice City, a fictionalized version of Miami, and the trailers lean into the “Florida Man” aspect of the state (called Leonida in the game). We see such sights as an elderly man wearing a thong and a dealer’s visor — and nothing else — mowing his overgrown lawn. This NPC is there to take on an iconic duty.
IRL Lesson: No matter who you are, what your lifestyle is, and how fast cars are zooming around, that grass doesn’t cut itself. We’ve all got to proudly groom our lawns and keep up our property’s appearance. There comes a time to leave the gaming chair, get out there, and fire up the mower. And that time could just be right now.
AI Images are AI-generated for illustrative purposes and are not official assets, screenshots, or affiliated with Rockstar Games or the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
About the writer
Zak Wojnar is a writer and interviewer from New York City. In his professional life, he's written about everything from videogames and movies to cheese culture and deli business, with bylines in Game Informer, Newsweek, and Muscle & Fitness. In his private life, he maintains a few flowers by his bedroom window.