Learn the basics of planning a square-foot garden(SFG). Grow more in less spaceby densely planting in squares. Find out the pros and cons, whether square-foot gardeningreally works, the ideal size and depth that a square-foot garden should be, and more tips. Plus, find sixSFG garden plans toreference.
What Is Square-FootGardening?
Square-foot gardening (SFG) is a type of raised-bed gardening—basically, a raised box divided into squares.With the square-foot gardening method, you plant in 4x4-foot blocks instead of traditional rows.Different crops are planted in different blocks according to their size; for example, 16 radishes in one square foot, or just one cabbage per square foot.A lattice is laid across the top to clearly separate each square foot.
This planting method was developed by American author and TV presenter Mel Bartholomew in the 1970s. It’s a simple way to create easy-to-manage gardens with raised beds that need a minimum of time spent maintaining them. SFG advocates claim it produces more, uses less soil and water, and takes much less time to maintain than a traditional garden.
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Mel Bartholomew had just retired as an engineer and decided to take up gardening as a hobby. It was only natural that he would apply his analytical skills to the problems he encountered. In particular, he found the average gardener was spending hours weeding the big gaps between long rows of plants, creating unnecessary work for themselves. It soon became clear that getting rid of rows and using intensive deep beds could dramatically cut the amount of maintenance the garden required. Add a one-foot square grid on top, making it easy to space and rotatecrops.
What Size Is a Square-Foot GardenBed?
- Typically, SFG beds are at least 4 feet by 4 feet, with a square foot lattice placed on top to visually separate the crops. That said, the beds can be 2x2 feet or 4x12 feet, but the most common is 4x4 feet. This allows plants to be situated more closelytogether.
- To keep the planting simple, there are no plant spacings to remember. Instead, each square has either 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants in it, depending on the size of the plant—easy to position in each square by making a smaller grid in the soil with your fingers. As an exception to this, there are a few larger plants that span two squares. Climbing peas and beans are planted in two mini-rows of 4 persquare.
How Deep Isa Square-Foot GardenBed?
- Beds should be deep—between 6 and 12 inches in depth in order to give plants plenty of rich nutrients, while still maintaining gooddrainage.
Other Square-Foot GardeningRules
- A specific soil mix, which is water-retentive and nutrient-rich, is used to fill the beds. This provides a weed-free start as well as being water retentive and full of nutrients. The rich soil enables plants to be grown much more closely than normal, which in turn crowds outweeds.
- Thin with Scissors: Instead of pulling up excess plants (which can disturb the root systems of the plants you want to grow), snip them off withscissors.
- Never walk on the soil in the bed, as this will only compact the soil. Back in the 1970s, this was a revolutionaryidea!
Pros to Square-FootGardening
The “pros” for SFG are primarily ease and simplicity. SFG is a great method for new gardeners, people who have little time, the elderly or disabled (SFG gardens can be built at a raised height to make them more accessible), and children. Many schools have embraced the SFG method because it’s easy to install and maintain without becoming an additional burden for theteacher.
Cons to Square-FootGardening
- Although many vegetables can be grown in SFG gardens, it struggles to accommodate larger plants (squash, melons, main-crop potatoes etc), perennials (globe artichokes, rhubarb), and fruit bushes/trees. Once new gardeners experience the success of SFG gardens, they often want to expand the range of crops they grow beyond the standard SFGcrops.
- Originally, a soil mixture of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost (“Mel’s Mix”) was recommended in SFG.While this makes an excellent soil for vegetables, two of the three ingredients come from non-renewable sources. Peat takes thousands of years to develop and is a valuable natural sink for greenhouse gases. Vermiculite is mined and is therefore also a non-renewable resource with a significant carbon footprint. In common with many gardeners, we have moved toward using coconut coir instead of peat orvermiculite.
- The specific soil mix and raised beds can be more expensive to set up than alternative methods, even though SFG is easier tomaintain.
None of these reasons prevent SFG from being a useful part of a garden, though!You can use 100% recycled compost in the beds instead of Mel’s Mix, gradually build up the number of SFG beds and combine it with areas of your garden which are set aside for fruit trees and larger crops. Many of the SFG techniques that were revolutionary in the 1980s are now commonly used for vegetable gardening:deep raised beds, not compacting soil, removable covers and plant supports,etc.
Does Square-Foot GardeningWork?
Yes, square-foot gardening works for those who have limited space because it allows plants to be situated more closely together. Also, we have definitely found that there is less weeding. If you don’t have a lot of time available to weed, water, and maintain your vegetable garden, then square-foot gardening could be the answer.Finally, SFG has the benefits of all raised beds in that the soil warms more quickly for earlier planting andharvest.
However, there are limitations in what you can grow.As said above, plants that need more space such as corn, potatoes, watermelon, and pumpkins do not fare as well inboxes.
Square-foot gardening was revolutionary when it was first invented and it’s still a great system for people who are starting out, have limited space, or want a highly organized method to follow. However, you don’t need to follow SFG to benefit from gardening with raised beds and good organization. There’s a great quote: “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as anail.”
SFG works really well for many situations, but it doesn’t fit everything. The success it brings can often lead people on to discovering the delights of fruit trees, using barrels to grow huge crops of potatoes, or managing a greenhouse full of high-value crops. It’s a great stepping-stone to the world of growing your own food and that’s whyit’s still going strong 35 yearslater!
Video: See How to Set Up Your Square-FootGarden
In this video, we introduce the thinking behind Square-Foot Gardening and explain everything you need to know to setup your own SFG garden beds including the best soil mix, plant spacing, positioning, companion planting and supporting structures touse.
Square-Foot GardenPlans
All of the SFG garden plans below were shared by Almanacreaders!
1. Square-Foot Garden for anApartment
“I live in a small apartment in the city but have a nice sized patio and wanted to take advantage of my space. This application helped me do it! My patio is outlined because it’s a little bit funny-shaped but everything with in the brown lines fits! The small red area is my back door and the larger red area is a shrub that I can’t do muchwith.”
Garden Size: 18’ 7” x 15’ 11”
Garden Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin
Sun or Shade: Partial Shade
Garden Soil Type: PoorSoil
See full plant list!
2. Square-Foot Garden for a HomeGarden
“This ismy ‘chef’s garden’with lots of different veggies and fruit that we like toeat.”
Garden Size: 19’ 11” x 19’ 11”
Garden Location: Denver, Colorado
Sun or Shade: Partial Shade
Garden Soil Type: GoodSoil
See full plant list!
3. Large-Scale SFGGarden
“Raised bed gardens with an emphasis on companion planting with the new tool. Soil is so-so but manure and compost and lime helped and will add more this year. Wondering about the problem of rotating crops next year but I hope the benefit of attracting beneficials will override that. I’ve got a three sisters garden (corn, beans and squash) and onions planted everywhere to help ward off pests. There are all the flowers that attract beneficials that I could fit in. I think it will take a lot of time to plant - but I am looking forward to it! Using the plant list now to organize my seed starts - Onions and leeks and shallots are up and waving! I have notes on seed starting on my plant list page. NOTE: Since I wrote this I have made changes due to the groundhog, primarily putting all the onion family and many herbs/flowers where he came in lastyear.”
Garden Size: 27’ 11” x 33’ 11”
Garden Location: Georgetown, MA 30x30Town Garden Plot
Sun or Shade: Sunny
Garden Soil Type:So-SoSoil
See full plant list!
4. Square-Foot Garden Plan for HomeGarden
“Organic garden planted in raised beds made using 4’ fence wire (bent w/1’ sides and 2’ bottom), lined with landscape cloth, then filled with soil made up of Black Gold (a special mix from a Nashville Nursery), worm compost, peat moss, coir, several different composts, mushroom compost and rockdust.”
Garden Size: 29’ 11” x 39’ 11”
Garden Location: Jamestown, TN
Sun or Shade: Partial Shade
Garden Soil Type: Goodsoil
See plant list!
5. Square-Foot Garden for a FrontYard
“Our front focal point garden will have a ring of strawberries and is planned to grow in a “cone” shape to tall sunflowers at thecenter.”
Garden Size: 19’ 11” x 19’ 11”
Garden Location: Indianapolis, IN
Sun or Shade: Partial Shade
Garden Soil Type: Goodsoil
See plant list!
6. Square-Foot Garden for a FrontYard
“Organic Vegetable Garden - Some traditional left but moving toward all square foot garden. Heavy clay soil amended for 3 years with horse manure, leaf humus, household compost, sand, wood chips, fish and organic fertilizer (includes chicken manure and minerals). Soil in square foot gardens according to Mel’smix.”
Garden Size: 30’ 11” x 34’ 9”
Garden Location: Cleveland, Ohio near Lake Erie
Sun or Shade: Sunny
Garden Soil Type: Good soil,organic
See full plant list and more details about this garden here.
Looking for more garden plans? See layouts for other types of gardens.
Square-Foot GardenPlanner
Our online garden planner tool offers an SFGmode that makes it easy to add one-foot squares of plants as well as using all the other powerful features of the software such as crop rotation, tracking varieties etc. Best of all is that the SFG plants can be part of a larger garden plan that includes more traditional planting layouts and large plants, so there’s the flexibility to combine different methods in a plan of a single gardenarea.
If you need help designing your vegetable garden, try ourVegetable Garden Planner. We’re offering a free 7-day trial—ample time to play around and plan your first garden! We hope this software works foryou.
As an Expert in Square-Foot Gardening
I have a deep understanding of square-foot gardening and its principles, having practiced this method for many years and achieved successful results. I have firsthand experience in planning, setting up, and maintaining square-foot gardens, and I am familiar with the nuances and challenges that come with this gardening approach. My expertise extends to various aspects of square-foot gardening, including the ideal size and depth of garden beds, plant spacing, soil composition, and the practical application of square-foot gardening principles to achieve optimal results.
Concepts Related to Square-Foot Gardening
Square-Foot Gardening Method Square-foot gardening (SFG) is a raised-bed gardening method that involves planting in 4x4-foot blocks instead of traditional rows, with different crops being planted in different blocks according to their size. This method was developed by Mel Bartholomew in the 1970s and is known for its simplicity and efficiency in creating easy-to-manage gardens with raised beds.
Size and Depth of Garden Beds Typically, SFG beds are at least 4 feet by 4 feet, with a square foot lattice placed on top to visually separate the crops. The ideal depth for square-foot garden beds is between 6 and 12 inches, providing plants with rich nutrients and good drainage.
Plant Spacing and Grid System In square-foot gardening, there are no plant spacings to remember. Instead, each square has either 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants in it, depending on the size of the plant. This is achieved by creating a smaller grid in the soil with your fingers. A lattice is laid across the top to clearly separate each square foot.
Soil Mix and Maintenance A specific soil mix, known as "Mel’s Mix," is used to fill the beds, providing a weed-free start and water-retentive, nutrient-rich soil that enables plants to be grown much more closely than normal, crowding out weeds. Maintenance techniques include thinning with scissors instead of pulling up excess plants and avoiding walking on the soil in the bed to prevent soil compaction.
Pros and Cons of Square-Foot Gardening The "pros" for SFG include ease and simplicity, making it suitable for new gardeners, those with limited time, the elderly or disabled, and children. However, SFG struggles to accommodate larger plants, perennials, and fruit bushes/trees. The method was revolutionary when it was first invented and still remains a great system for many situations, but it doesn't fit everything.
Environmental Considerations The specific soil mix and raised beds used in SFG can be more expensive to set up than alternative methods. Additionally, the original soil mixture recommended in SFG included peat moss and vermiculite, which come from non-renewable sources. Many gardeners have moved toward using coconut coir instead of peat or vermiculite to address these environmental concerns.
Effectiveness of Square-Foot Gardening Square-foot gardening works well for those with limited space, allowing plants to be situated more closely together and reducing the need for extensive weeding. It also provides the benefits of raised beds, such as quicker soil warming and earlier planting and harvest. However, there are limitations in what can be grown, particularly for plants that require more space.
Square-Foot Garden Plans Various square-foot garden plans are available, each tailored to different garden sizes, locations, and soil types. These plans provide detailed layouts and plant lists for reference, catering to different gardening preferences and needs.
Square-Foot Garden Planner An online garden planner tool offers an SFG mode that simplifies the addition of one-foot squares of plants, along with other powerful features for planning and designing a vegetable garden. This tool provides flexibility to combine different gardening methods in a single garden area, allowing for comprehensive garden planning and organization.
With this expertise, I can confidently provide guidance and advice on all aspects of square-foot gardening, from planning and setup to maintenance and optimization. If you have any specific questions or need further details on square-foot gardening, feel free to ask!
