I recently surveyed my newsletter readers to ask them questions about how they gardened and what they would like for me to address in my newsletter. One of the questions was about square foot gardening. 72% said they weren’t using Square Foot Gardening, but 61.1% said they were curious and wanted to know more. So, let me share why, after years of doing traditional “row gardening,” I switched to raised bed gardens and started using the Square Foot Gardening method.
Making the change has been a game changer for me! It’s made my garden easier to manage, given me more harvests in less space, and cut down on garden maintenance. So if you’ve ever wondered why people love this method so much, let me tell you why it works so well and how it might be a perfect fit for your garden, too!
Square Foot Gardening is a method where you divide a raised bed into 1-foot by 1-foot squares and plant crops in each square based on their needs. It’s an organized, easy-to-follow system that takes the guesswork out of spacing.
Benefits of Square Foot Gardening:
- Maximizes Space: Grow more vegetables in less space by using every square foot efficiently.
- Less Weeding: Densely planted crops leave little room for weeds to thrive.
- Water Efficiency: Plants get just the right amount of water, helping conserve resources.
- No Confusion About Spacing: You simply follow a guide for how many plants fit in each square (e.g., 16 carrots, 4 lettuce, or 1 tomato), eliminating the stress of figuring out plant spacing.
- Easy to Maintain: Organized and manageable, making it perfect for beginners or busy gardeners.
How Easy is it to Create a Plan?
After determining what size your bed is you will know exactly how many squares you have to plant in.
- Multiply length by width. For example a 4×4 bed has 16 square feet or 16 squares to plant in. A 6×4 bed has 24 square feet or 24 squares to plant in.
- Decide what you want to plant and write that down.
- Using the spacing guide, write down how much of each plant you have chosen can be planted in each square.
- Draw a grid with the number of squares you have available. The example below is a 4×4 Garden.
- Fill in each square with your plants. Don’t forget to add herbs and flowers to deter pests, and attract beneficial insects.
Square Foot Gardening makes planning and planting a breeze! No more confusion about how much space each plant needs—just fill in the squares and watch your garden thrive.
In a 4×4 raised bed garden using the Square Foot Gardening method, you can grow a variety of vegetables and herbs in 16 one-foot squares (4 squares by 4 squares). The number of plants per square depends on the type of crop and its spacing needs, so you can grow a lot in a small space. Here’s a breakdown of what can fit:
Planting Example:
- 16 plants per square (small plants): Radishes, carrots, green onions
- 9 plants per square: Spinach, beets, bush beans
- 4 plants per square: Lettuce, Swiss chard, marigolds
- 1 plant per square: Tomatoes, peppers, kale, cabbage
Example Layout:
4 squares of lettuce (16 heads)
2 squares of carrots (32 carrots)
2 squares of radishes (32 radishes)
2 squares of bush beans (18 plants)
1 square of a tomato (1 plant)
1 square of bell pepper (1 plant)
1 square of kale (1 plant)
3 squares for herbs like basil, parsley, or flowers
In total, a 4×4 raised bed can grow over 100 plants in just 16 square feet! It’s a highly efficient way to garden and makes the most of a small space.
Happy Gardening,
Karen
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