Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Square-Foot Style Gardening
One of my favorite methods of gardening, especially for beginners, is the Square Foot Gardening
method. While I don't follow this method completely, I do use a lot of the principles recommended
as a starting place for my garden each year. Mel Bartholomew is the creator of the Square Foot
Gardening method and author of
All New Square Foot Gardening
. I'm going to briefly discuss the
principles of Square Foot Gardening and what aspects can be adapted to various kinds of gardens.
The Square Foot Gardening method breaks up the garden into 4×4-foot sections with paths set in
between each of the large squares. Each square is then broken up into individual square-foot sec-
tions and planted according to the number of plants allowed to occupy each space. Seeds are sown
singly to avoid overcrowding and soil is amended as the crops are planted and harvested. With
this method gardeners can produce a large amount of produce in a more condensed space than
industrial farms. They also cut back on weeding and watering because of how the plants grow close
together and help shade out weeds.
A square-foot garden is the first garden I planted when I moved to Oklahoma with an 8-week-old
baby in August 2006. We didn't have a lot of time left in the gardening season but I wanted to do
something to make it feel like home so I dug up a 4-foot square and put in some overpriced tomato
starts and some fall-season seeds like lettuce and spinach.
This square-foot garden has been divided into individual squares. Within each square a single plant or type
of plant is added to the bed. The squares on the left are planted with tomatoes, while the two squares on
the right side are planted with Verbena (bottom) and strawberries (second from bottom). When Serene
adds other plants such as carrots, radishes, or bush beans, she will plant more than one in each of the single
squares because those plants can be spaced closer together.
(Photo courtesy of Serene Vannoy)
