Square Foot Gardening- Maximizing your Space

When I first started gardening I used the square-foot gardening method exclusively. There are a few rules to follow, but if done right, you can really maximize the space you have in your garden. As the Square Foot Gardening Foundation puts it so aptly:

The Square Foot Gardening method is estimated to cost 50% less, uses 20% less space, 10% of the water, and only 2% of the work compared to single row gardening. Additional benefits are: virtually no weeds, no digging or rototilling, and no heavy tools are necessary.

Square Foot Gardening Foundation, 2021

How does it work exactly? It all starts with soil. After digging through research, I settled on the “official” Mel’s blend- 1 part each of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost. It didn’t work out exactly as I planned, because I soon found out that vermiculite was ridiculously hard to come by and not cost efficient for me. Similarly, peat moss- while readily available- has some sustainability issues I wasn’t sure I wanted to support. I ended up utilizing a professional garden blend I ordered from a sand & gravel outfit nearby and mixed a heavy dose of various composts and other things in the hopes that it would make a nice, nutrient-dense medium. Then it was just a matter of marking off my squares.

The next step is understanding how to plant your seedlings. While you can’t put more than one tomato in a square foot, you can plant a ton of carrots! Here’s a handy chart from MotherEarthNews:

Finally, it’s important to consider what plants grow well together, and what plants don’t. For example, tomato’s love to be planted with things like basil and garlic, but if you plant them alongside a cruciferous plant (e.g. broccoli or cabbage) it can actually stunt their growth! Before you start digging holes and planting your babies, it’s important to do your homework to make sure everyone is going to be happy with their “neighbors”. A great resource on companion planting can be found at the Farmer’s Almanac site.

Since my raised bed gardening began in 2013, I have since updated my garden set up. While there aren’t distinct, raised beds anymore, I still depend heavily on the methods I learned in square foot gardening. It is absolutely the best way to get the most out of your garden, particularly if you’re limited in how much space you have.