Square Foot Gardening: the starting point for Planty (2024)

FAQs

When starting a garden What is the first thing you need to do? ›

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 2x 2 feet or 4x12 feet, but the most common is 4x4 feet. This allows plants to be situated more closely together.

Plant Your Favorite Veggies

If you're building more than one raised square-foot garden bed, leave enough space between them to roll a wheelbarrow. The formula for planting is simple: one extra-large plant per 1x1-foot square; four large plants per square; nine medium plants per square; and 16 small plants per square.

For a square bed, multiply the length of the bed by its width to determine how many plants per square foot. For a circular planting bed, you can calculate how many plants per square foot is ideal by multiplying 3.14 by the distance from the center to the edge of the bed.

The Bottom Line. Square foot gardening is a solid gardening method for any home gardener, especially beginners and people who are short on space. The drawbacks (while real) all have fairly simple solutions. Of course, it's all about your individual needs and preferences, but if it interests you, we say give it a whirl!

One of the most significant advantages of square-foot gardening is that it saves or consumes 80% less space than conventional gardening. Gardeners can plant various crops in a small area by using a raised bed and dividing it into one-foot squares.

Tomatoes. Although it's usually recommended to not plant tomatoes and peppers right after each other in the same bed every year, they can be grown together in the same garden bed (and then rotated to another bed next season).

Drawbacks of Square Foot Gardening

Some crops, like large, indeterminate tomatoes, need more space than a single square foot—otherwise they'll start stealing nutrients and water from other plants. Plus, plants can deplete moisture and nutrients quickly in a square foot garden due to the intensive planting technique.

SFG recommends planting one indeterminate tomato per square in the grid. We're assuming you're attaching your trellis to the north end of your raised bed and that the tomato is planted in those adjacent squares.

Determine the number of square inches a mature plant will cover by multiplying the number of inches of suggested spacing between plants by itself. 4. Divide the number of square inches in the plot by the number of square inches required for one plant. This result is the total number of plants needed for that plot.

How to determine where to plant? ›

Dealing with garden and soil infrastructure now and over the winter mean that spring is for planting and not playing catch-up. Fall is the best time to prepare your garden's soil for next spring.

As a general rule, put tall veggies toward the back of the bed, mid-sized ones in the middle, and smaller plants in the front or as a border. Consider adding pollinator plants to attract beneficial insects that can not only help you get a better harvest, but will also prey on garden pests.