A square foot garden is perfect for gardeners looking to save space with high yields. Exactly as the name sounds, you build multiple square foot raised garden beds.
This guide covers the benefits of square foot gardening and the hardships. By the end, you’ll know how to do it yourself. You’ll learn everything you need, from materials to plants to use. To be successful, we’ve got extra tips to help you out.
What is Square Foot Gardening?
Square foot gardening was invented by Mel Bartholomew in 1976. Square foot gardening uses small, raised beds instead of crop rows in the ground. The beds can be made of untreated cedar, pine, or fir. You want your raised beds to be no larger than 4×8 feet. This ratio gives you easy access to the center and saves space. To make it a perfect square, go for 4×4 feet. When it comes to depth, the deeper the better. We suggest one foot deep, but it can be successful with six inches. It needs to be deep enough for root growth, so keep that in mind when choosing plants.
You’ll want to divide your bed into a flat grid complete with one-foot squares. Each square in the bed should be dedicated to a specific crop. Square foot gardening uses a soilless mix. It uses compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. Depending on your climate and growth, soil amendments are sometimes necessary.
The Benefits of Square Foot Gardening
There are many pros to square foot gardening:
- Highly Productive and Space-Saving: Requires 80% less space than traditional garden rows.
- Great for Gardeners with Limited Mobility: Easy access due to its size and shape.
- Beginner-Friendly: Offers organization and manageable steps for new gardeners.
- Soil Improvement: Uses fresh, fertile growing medium; easy to buy compost, peat moss, and vermiculite.
- No Sod or Turf Removal Needed: Quick and easy to set up on any surface.
- Customizable Placement: Beds can be placed in different locations across your yard.
- Weed and Soil Compression Control: Uses soilless mix to prevent weeds and avoids soil compression.
- Easier Succession Planting and Crop Rotation: Clear division of beds makes these practices easier.
- Easier Plant Protection: Smaller space to cover makes adding covers and protecting plants easier.
Cons of Square Foot Gardening
While square foot gardening is great for some, others may find the cons hard to work with:
- Creative Constraints: Some find gridded raised beds creatively constraining.
- Intercropping and Companion Planting Difficulties: Harder to manage due to grids.
- Compost Quality Matters: The quality of compost is crucial for plant growth.
- High Installation Costs: Upfront costs for materials can be high.
- Lack of Air Circulation: Close planting can lead to plant diseases.
- Light Issues: Overcrowded plants may grow poorly.
- Frequent Watering Needed: Raised beds need frequent watering.
- Weed Control: Weeds can still appear in later years.
How to Square Foot Garden
You’ve decided to build a square foot garden, so here are the steps on how to do it:
- Source Your Materials
- Build Your Square Foot Garden Raised Beds
- Position Your Raised Beds
- Make a Batch of Soilless Mix
- Fill Your Beds with Soilless Mix
- Measure and Add Your Grids
- Plant Your Garden
Sourcing Square Foot Garden Materials
To build a 4×4 square foot garden, you’ll want the following materials:
- Two 8-foot long 2×6 boards of untreated lumber
- 6-inch exterior wood screws
- A power drill
For your wood, you need water-resistant boards or they will rot. Treated lumber can leech chemicals into the soil. Cedar and redwood are naturally resistant to water, but they are pricey. The least expensive options are fir and pine; just know you’ll need to replace them after a few years. The Home Depot has associates to cut lumber for you.
Build and Position Square Foot Garden Raised Beds
If you choose to cut the wood yourself, cut the boards to 4-foot sections. Pre-drill 3 holes on one end of each of the boards. Position the boards end to end. It should look like a square. Screw them together with your drill using 6-inch wood screws.
Pick the area of your yard you want your beds placed. You’ll want to trim your grass down with a lawnmower or weed whacker.
Once you position your beds, lay down a layer of cardboard or newspaper. It’ll be under your soilless mix, but on top of the ground soil. Cardboard or newspaper kills the grass and will decompose over time to stop weeds.
Make a Batch of Soilless Mix and Fill Garden Beds
To create a batch of soilless mix to fit in a 4×4 square foot garden, you’ll need:
- 3 cubic feet peat moss
- 3 cubic feet vermiculite
- 3 cubic feet of high-quality blended compost
Peat moss is used because it lightens soil, holds moisture, and improves soil structure. What is it? It’s partially decomposed remains scraped off the surface of peat bogs. It’s not renewable, so some choose to replace it with coconut coir. Coconut coir is a byproduct of the coconut processing industry. It comes from the outer husks of coconuts and is ground into fiber.
Vermiculite is a natural mineral. It’s used to improve aeration and texture. Compost is decomposed organic matter. It provides nutrients, improves soil structure, and retains moisture. Earthworms that feed on it help improve aeration and drainage. Your compost should have at least 5 different sources to ensure nutrients. Good sources are kitchen scraps, garden debris, grass clippings, and other natural waste.
Combine the three ingredients in a wheelbarrow or garden cart. We suggest wearing a mask because the materials are very dusty. To make it less dusty, you can lightly mist it with a garden hose. Once you add the mix to the beds, saturate it with water. You want to ensure the mix is hydrated.
Measure and Add Grids
Divide the bed into 1×1 foot sections and add a permanent grid marker. Options for grid markers are:
- String looped around small nails
- Mini blinds
- Wooden dowels
- Wood laths
- Thin wood strips
Plant Your Garden
Your square garden is ready to plant! We suggest drawing out a map to plan the best garden. Place tall plants on the north side of your bed. This is so they don’t shade the shorter plants. Plant spacing is important.
- Extra-large plants: 1 plant per square (12 inches apart) – peppers, cabbage, kale, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, collard greens, squash, broccoli.
- Large plants: 4 plants per square (6 inches apart) – lettuce, Swiss chard, green beans, peas, cilantro, basil, dill, edamame beans, marigold.
- Medium plants: 9 plants per square (4 inches apart) – bush beans, spinach, beets, turnips, garlic, large onions.
- Small plants: 16 plants per square (3 inches apart) – carrots, radishes, scallions.
Tips for Square Foot Garden Success
Here are some extra tips to ensure your harvest is bountiful:
- Mulch: Prevent your garden beds from drying out by mulching the soil surface. Once the plants begin to sprout, add mulch. This will conserve moisture, prevent weed seeds from taking hold, and give you bountiful blooms.
- Go Vertical: Add some trellises for plants that like to climb. For your tall plants on the north side of your bed, add a trellis. This will aid pole beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers. This also helps you save more space.
- Add a Dome: These help extend your growing season. Add a dome to protect your plants from frost. On warm days, make sure to ventilate.
- Keep Pests Away: Create a habitat around your garden beds. Add pollinator plants, fruit trees, and shrubs for critters. Add bird feeders and bird baths for birds. Keep brush piles and leaf mulch for pest shelter. This keeps pests and critters away from your garden.
Square foot gardening is a great way to save space and still enjoy a bountiful harvest. Looking for a tool to complete your square foot garden project? The Home Depot delivers online orders when and where you need them.
