How Does Your Garden Grow?

Square Foot Gardening

By Madelyn Schauer

DeKalb County Master Gardener

As gardeners, whether beginners or more experienced, we are always looking for new and interesting ways to garden. An alternative to conventional garden design is square foot gardening. This form of gardening is a variation of raised beds and allows the gardener to produce very specific results. A gardener using this method can more easily plan, plant and maintain their garden area.

Square foot gardening can be a single unit or a group of 4 foot by 4 foot wooden frame boxes filled with soil. These boxes can then be filled with annuals, perennials, vegetables or vining plants.

One of the biggest advantages of square foot gardening is ease of maintenance. Weeding is simple. Walking through the garden daily or weekly allows the gardener to keep a constant check on the garden and weed it one square at a time. Between the squares are paths enabling the gardener to weed from all four sides.

Another advantage to raised beds is improved drainage. The plantings are higher than the surrounding area and excess water drains readily. If the bed is placed on a slight slope, so much the better.

When maintaining boxes, treat them as containers by watering and fertilizing more often. Using compost first and then fertilizer will satisfy the needs of the plants and will insure healthy, rapid growth. Water retention crystals can be added to the soil. This will help the boxes retain moisture and should be effective for two to three years.

Here are the directions for building the frame boxes:

Begin by constructing a wooden frame box that is 4 feet by 4 feet square. The gardener now has 16 square feet of workable space with any part easily reached from all sides. Boxes constructed of 2x10 lumber, cut to 4 foot lengths at the lumberyard, can be put together in 30 minutes. Stapling landscape cloth to the bottom prevents crab grass and other weeds from growing up inside the box. If you use landscape cloth, keep in mind that it will prevent earthworms from entering the box.

This box can now be placed anywhere after considering the needs of the plant such as sun, shade and drainage. Fill the box with the soil of your choice using a base of compost. Each box can be designed to hold your choice of vegetables, herbs, annuals or perennials.

For vegetables, each square can be divided into 4 square foot areas or quarters. To plant peppers, give individual plants 1 quarter of the bed or two square feet as they are fairly large. Lettuce requires only 6 inches between plants. Four plants would be planted in a quarter of the bed.

Larger plants such as tomatoes, zucchini, squash and pole beans can be trained to grow vertically on easily constructed sturdy frames that have been attached to the frame of the wooden box. Three-fourths inch PVC pipe coupled with string or netting are good materials for constructing the frame. The above mentioned vegetables will either climb on their own or can be encouraged to climb by the use of ties attached to the vining structure. Since these plants are at eye level, harvesting is a simple matter of reaching in and picking when the vegetable is at the desired size and ripeness.

Designing the boxes for flower use can be great fun. If you like variety, use annual plants and change them every year. If you want to spend less time planting, plant your boxes with perennials. Vertical accent can be achieved by planting flowering vines on trellises attached to the base unit.. Squares can contain a mixture of colors and sizes or be all one type of plant. Coleus, for example, looks better in mass planting of one type. In the square, four plants to each quarter results in a mass planting of 16 plants for maximum impact.

One of the most interesting and important uses for the square foot gardening system has been adapted by many nursing homes. For this use, boxes are built about 3 feet high so that the residents in wheelchairs can easily plant, maintain and harvest without strain. A form of this system is currently being used at the DeKalb County Home where residents plant and maintain large raised beds of beautiful annual flowers. This program has been in existence for three years and is greatly enjoyed by many of the residents.

Square foot gardening is a unique garden design form. It has many advantages and results are so easily seen. It is a very efficient way to grow vegetables with more yield in less space. Creative ways to fill the boxes with great looking flower combinations are limitless. Square foot gardening definitely gives the gardener ease of planning, planting, weeding and harvesting.

If you have questions or comments about this article, home gardening or about the Master Gardener program, call the Master Gardeners, c/o University of Illinois Extension, DeKalb County office at (815) 758-8194 or e-mail dekalb_mg@extension.uiuc.edu.