you may start Square Foot Gardening now in a small space and arise veggie with fewer weeds and less work — and reap self-aggrandising harvests .
Square Foot Gardening is a simpler way to produce organic vegetables and other produce — you’ll get a high production froma small area . The method was popularized by retired engineer - efficiency expert Mel Bartholomew .
Why You Should Try Square Foot Gardening
He come up with the approximation to make it easier and less frustrating for people of all ages and abilities to develop their own crops . How much easy ? With Square Foot Gardening , you ’ll do less weeding and digging , and utilize easy - to - handgrip tools . It ’s about 2 percent of the work you ’d do in a received vegetable garden . fillip : It will be you about 50 percent less .
We ’ll learn you how to get started . Essentially , you build a box , fill it with the correct mix , summate a grid — you’re able to use something as simple-minded as former wooden yardsticks marry together — and start embed .
1. Pick the Correct Location for Square Foot Gardening
As with most vegetable gardens , a Square Foot Garden must be on relatively categorical flat coat and get at leastsix to eight hours of full Lord’s Day daily . quash low areas that may move around into puddles after a hard rain . You may want to choose a spot near your house to make watering , weeding , harvest , and other garden chores more convenient and harder to overleap .
Bob Stefko
2. Build a Raised Garden Bed
The most common configuration for square - footraised garden bedsis 4x4 invertebrate foot . At this sizing , most gardeners can arrive at the midriff from any side . Plus , this sizing divides easily into a storage-battery grid of sixteen 1x1 - foot square .
Make your side at least 6 inches cryptic . Growingroot vegetable such as carrotscall for side that are 12 inches deep .
To make a 6 - column inch - tall raise layer for Square Foot Gardening :
Credit:Bob Stefko
Use a more durable material such as press - treated lumber or cedar tree for a long - endure frame .
Avoid using air pressure - treated baseball bat from 2004 or earlier ; it may have been treated with arsenic that will leach into the dirt .
3. Fill the Raised Garden Bed
You ’ve built the shape for araised garden seam ; now you take to fulfill it with dirt . You may be wondering if you require a particular soil for Square Foot Gardening . you’re able to use what you have as long as you rectify it ( which is a good approximation for any garden ) . First , loosen and aerate the basis dirt . Then , mix in enough compost(and superfluous surface soil if ask ) to fill the physique .
Work compost into the soil at the charge per unit of one - third by volume ( such as a 2 - in layer of compost into 6 inch of soil ) .
For a more scientific approach , test your soilto determine its piece . Once you have that information , append the good amendments in the right proportions to accomplish the well - rise medium for a veg garden .
Credit:Bob Stefko
Blend the ingredients well , whetheramending the existing soilor creating a novel soilless mixture . Some gardeners apply a portable concrete mixer to get a uniform texture and dispersion of corpuscle sizes . No mixer ? No problem . Blend all the ingredients on top of a tarpaulin and then shovel the mixture into the frame . To get a speedier start on planting , vamoose the admixture and replete the frame with high-pitched - calibre bagged garden soil from a baby’s room or gardening center .
Once the bed is filled and you ’ve raked the soil or soilless mixture smooth , make a square - foot garden grid using wicket strips , polyvinyl chloride pipes , or even draw . ( apply nails or screws to sequester the control grid to the side of the frame . ) Being capable to see each straight - foot section clearly simplifies planting . If you like , cover the prepared garden with athin level of fine mulchto maintain soil moisture andslow down the growth of weeds .
4. Plant Your Favorite Veggies
If you ’re building more than one raisedSquare Foot Gardeningbed , leave enough place between them to roll a garden cart .
The formula for planting is simple : one extra - large works per 1x1 - invertebrate foot square , four big flora per square , nine intermediate plants per square , and 16 small industrial plant per square .
Here are some ideas for filling the squares :
Credit:Bob Stefko
vegetable or fruits that spread ( such aswatermelons ) require a separate bottom . It ’s fun to experiment ; just keep in head that larger plant — such as corn , squash rackets , potatoes , globe globe artichoke , pumpkin , and pieplant — need more quad .
Planting Seeds
Here ’s what to do if you’replanting seeds :
Transplanting Vegetables
If you’retransplanting vegetablesfrom a baby’s room or horticulture centre , habituate the same spacing method mentioned earlier . plaza plant in the scandal , leave behind a shallow low around each one to aid hold back urine . You may want to shade freshly planted vegetables to protect them from wilting . piddle daily for a few days and then remove the shade and water weekly .
5. Maintain Your Garden
Yes , Square Foot Gardening may take a little less piece of work than traditional gardening , but you still have to compensate attention to your produce .
Watering Schedule
You demand to irrigate when the soil feel juiceless , but you wo n’t waste water on any exposed soil between traditional rows . Do n’t irrigate from overhead . Instead , use a small container to water each plant individually — pouring the water into the depressions you made when you planted them . Do n’t panic ; it will still take less than 10 transactions to irrigate a 4x4 - understructure garden this way . If your docket permits , H2O in the forenoon .
You ’ll need to water more often on days that are hot or long-winded because the soil will dry out faster .
Weeding Your Garden
be after on weeding every hebdomad , but eitherpull weeds when they ’re smallor use pair of scissors to abbreviate weed off at the base instead of pulling them up by the rootage or using a hoe . ( You do n’t require to disturb the roots of vegetable growing nearby . ) Make it gentle on yourself by weed every time you walk by the seam or only one public square at a time . Because weeds wo n’t compete with your vegetables for nutrients , you probablywon’t call for to fecundate .
Pest Control
Inspect your garden day-to-day tospot louse problem betimes . Either hand - filling and destroy louse or spray the diffuse - bodied one with insecticidal soap . Knock aphids offof plants by spraying them with a hosepipe .
Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to grow tomatoes in your Square Foot Garden , compare the unlike varieties . Bush tomatoes ( determinate ) produce fruit all at once . Each plant life requires four squares but wo n’t need staking . Vining tomatoes ( aka undetermined ) such as ' Early Girl ' and most heirlooms take up to nine square if unsupported . Or you could hazard this type of Lycopersicon esculentum and only practice one square if you prune the industrial plant regularly .
The only difference between harvesting veggie from a Square Foot Garden rather of a traditional garden is that there is less territory to cover . You ’ll still harvest vegetables when new , tender , and at their relish meridian .
bonce will be quick to harvest in three to five workweek , making them the immediate to be ready for picking . Onions and Brussels sprouts take the longest — at least 20 weeks .
“ Square Foot Gardening . ” Square Foot Gardening Foundation .
“ Square Foot Gardening Method . ” Square Foot Gardening Foundation .
“ Pros and Cons of Square - Foot Gardening for You . ” The Old Farmer ’s Almanac .
