Square Foot Gardening: Getting Started
What is square gardening?
Square foot gardening is a gardening method that involves dividing a raised garden bed into one-square-foot sections to maximize space and efficiency, allowing for compact growing. The square foot gardening method benefits all gardeners, from beginners to advanced! This method allows you to grow a lot of food in a petite area – perfect for urban gardeners. Learn how to operate our Hortiketch square foot garden planner.
Gardening rules for square feet
Square footage gardening is based on a set of principles designed to maximize space, minimize maintenance, and augment yields. Here are the basic rules of square footage gardening:
Divide the garden into square sections: The garden bed is divided into petite square sections, usually 1 foot by 1 foot. Each square represents a separate planting area.
Operate raised beds
Square footage gardening often uses raised beds to improve soil drainage, warmth and accessibility. Raised beds typically range from 12 to 18 inches high.
Deep soil preparation
Before planting, the soil in raised beds is deeply enriched with compost and other organic matter to create a nutrient-rich growing environment.
Create a grid
Each raised bed is equipped with a mesh that divides the bed into individual square-foot sections. This mesh can be made of wood, string or other material and serves as a guide for planting and care.
Plant intensively
A certain number of plants are planted on each square meter area, depending on their size. Larger plants can occupy an entire square, while smaller plants can be planted in multiples within a square.
Companion planting
Operate companion planting techniques to maximize space and improve plant health. Some plants are grown together to complement each other, deter pests and improve yields.
Crop rotation
Rotate crops annually to prevent soil depletion and minimize disease and pest problems. Each year, different types of plants are planted in each square foot of land to maintain soil fertility and balance. Hortiketch helps you keep track of where you planted your vegetables each season to ensure you are rotating your vegetables properly.
Intensive spacing between plants
Plants are spaced closely together within each square foot section to maximize space utilization.
Vertical gardening
Operate vertical gardening techniques to grow climbing plants (beans, cucumbers, peas) and gigantic plants (tomatoes, peppers, zucchini), thus making competent operate of vertical space.
Regular maintenance
Follow regular maintenance, including watering, weeding and harvesting, to keep your garden productive and fit. Square footage gardening minimizes maintenance effort due to its petite, manageable size.
By following these rules, gardeners can achieve high yields in a petite space while minimizing the effort and resources needed for care. Square footage gardening is especially suitable for beginners, urban gardeners and those with constrained space.
Recommended spacing of plants in square gardening
| A vegetable | Number of plants per square foot |
| Bean (bush) | 4 |
| Bean (pole) | 4 |
| Beetroot | 9 |
| broccoli | 1 |
| Carrot | 16 |
| Cucumbers | 2 |
| lettuce leaf) | 6 |
| Lettuce (head) | 2 |
| Onions | 9 |
| Peas | 9 |
| Pepper | 1 |
| Radish | 16 |
| spinach | 9 |
| Tomato | 1 |
| Zucchini | 1 |
Pros and cons of square gardening
Pros:
- A beginner-friendly approach to gardening
- Maximum space
- Reduced weeding
- Capable watering
- Simple crop rotation
Cons:
- Initial setup cost/labor
- Constrained selection of plants
- Risk of overcrowding
- Dependence on soil quality
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