Square foot gardening is a way to make the most of your garden’s space. Rather than planting in straight rows, you garden in built up squares of soil that allow you to easily reach all four sides of the square and maximizes the space in your garden.

Start out by building or buying squares that are 4 feet by 4 feet in size. You will be planting in these containers with each plant (or groups of smaller plants) having a 1 foot by 1 foot area. Leave three feet between each container to make access easier.

The advantage to square foot gardening is that you can reach everything. You do not have to step on any plants, drag a hose across them, etc. Since you build these above ground you will have fewer weeds to deal with. The one disadvantage is that they may need more water.

You do not want to crowd the plants. A good layout giving each plant plenty of room to thrive is one of the key factors of successful square foot gardening.

You can mix things up as you like, however. A mixture of vegetables and flowers can look quite lovely in a single container. Some flowers can even help with pest control.

You can vary the principles used in square foot gardening to suit your own needs. In my yard, for example, the garden is done around the perimeter of the yard. We have the access to the plants, they are in built up containers rather than being directly in the ground. But with a smaller yard with a perimeter garden already set up it made sense to keep to this variation rather than tear up the lawn.

Even though it seems to take a lot of room, you will be amazed at how much you can grow in a square foot garden plan. It allows for efficient use of the space you have.

A basic square foot garden allow you to get quite creative. You can grow all kinds of produce and flowers in pleasing arrangements. This kind of setup will allow you to work comfortably in your garden, water easily and harvest quickly.

If you need some tips on getting your garden going, check my review on the Home Vegetable Gardening ebook. This resource will give you valuable information on how to get your garden going.

A standard square foot garden layout starts as a 4×4 foot square. Depending on your space you can make several of these, with a 3 foot wide path between each square bed. The paths allow you to care for the garden without compacting it by walking on it, so the soil remains relatively loose.

Most people create boxes to hold the soil above the level of the rest of the ground. This is not an absolute necessity, but it is very common.

You can make your own soil mix, but the basic is about a third compost, a third peat moss and a third vermiculite.

The name, of course, comes from the division of each section into four square foot sections. Each section is planted with an appropriate number of whichever sort of vegetables. The focus is on giving each plant the room it needs, so they are not generally planted in rows.

Watering is done efficiently. You focus the water on the base of each plant rather than using a sprinkler. This can save quite a bit of water. Many use sun warmed water from buckets rather than hauling a hose about.

You can do some light pest control by planting marigolds or other plants that pests tend to avoid. This can greatly limit your need to use pesticides in your garden.

As you finish with individual plants you can pull them out and fill the hole with more compost before planting the next.

Square foot gardening is great for anyone who wants to make the most of the garden space they have. It’s a bit of work to get started but very efficient once it’s up and running.