Square Foot Gardening

Mel Bartholomew really knows how to write a book that garners enthusiasm from readers. His Square Foot Gardening has sold over 2 million copies, and recently he released a fully updated version of the classic called All New Square Foot Gardening. Although Bartholomew's target audience is novice vegetable and flower gardeners or people who've given up on gardening because it's "too much work," even experienced gardeners can learn something from this volume. Bartholomew's method is pretty simple: Build cheap 4 x 4 foot squares of wood (or other material), fill with a specific mixture of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite, and place one plant in every square foot. In essence, the author combines raised bed gardening with intensive gardening. There's really nothing new about that. But here's the kicker: Bartholowmew claims raised beds need only be six inches deep. Now that's something I've never heard before!

The author claims many benefits to Square Foot Gardening: * Little to no weeding. (True of all raised beds created with purchased soil.) * Easier weeding. (True of all raised beds that aren't stepped on.) * Fewer seeds needed. (The author encourages planting only as many seeds as you actually need, rather than thinning seedlings later, as is traditional.) * A head start on gardening because beds are warmer. (True of all raised beds.) * No rototiller or heavy digging needed. (True of all raised beds.) * Less watering. (Because he encourages hand watering and because the beds are simply smaller.) * No soil replacement needed after the first year. (True of all raised beds where you add compost regularly.) * More production per square foot than other methods. (More on this in a moment.) The author repeatedly claims his methods are radical and leave gardening experts skeptical, but really, the only eyebrow-raising claim he makes is that raised beds should only be six inches deep. Traditional raised beds are usually at least 12 inches deep; the rational behind this is that plants need room to develop deep roots if they are to produce well. And while Bartholomew does say some plants - mostly root crops like carrots - should have a bit more space to grow, I was skeptical plants could really thrive so close together with so shallow a bed. Wouldn't they compete too much for nutrients and water? So I spent some time at online bulletin boards where Square Foot Gardeners go to share their insights and ask questions. What I discovered was that while Square Foot Gardening does seem to give more produce per square foot than traditional row vegetable gardening, each plant generally produces a lot less. As Square Foot Gardeners shared photos of their gardens, I could readily see why: Many of the plants appeared stunted. But the author, I imagine, doesn't mind this, since he stresses throughout that one of the problems with traditional row vegetable gardens is they produce "too much" food. So here's what I think: If you have limited space or no yard soil and don't want to share or preserve part of your harvest, Square Foot Gardening is a good thing to try. For the rest of us, All New Square Foot Gardening does a great job of synthesizing gardening facts in an easy to digest manner. There are useful charts for succession planting (planting crops in stages so you'll have just enough produce every few weeks), great information on building your own trellises and plant supports, easy to understand information on composting at home, easy ideas on making row covers to protect your crops from hot or cold weather, and so on. I even suggest you try utilizing Bartholomew's information on raised beds and intensive gardening - just make your beds at least 12 inches high, instead of six.
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8 comments

  1. Great information! I was just looking at his book info and site last night. I am thinking about trying to plant a garden this year and the raised bed is the way I am going to need to go because my soil is hard clay. Thanks for your information, I was already planning to make my raised bed 10 inches, so looks like I should add the other two inches like you suggest. I enjoy your information you post on your site.

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  2. Kountry Girl, with ordinary raised beds, 10 inches would be fine, especially if you turn the soil beneath your raised beds first. But New Square Foot Gardening suggests putting a bottom on the beds (to prevent weeds from coming up and to minimize the work needed to get the garden going). This leaves roots no place to go but sideways - where they will directly complete with other plants nearby. I have heard some Square Foot Gardeners say they till the soil beneath their beds and do not put a bottom on their frames. This would probably work fine, although the likelihood of weeds is high, since there's only 6 inches of soil over the existing soil.

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  3. I read this post last week, and got to thinking this morning that if I did this, I'd have to get some good dirt to put in the raised beds. If you did a simple 4 x 4 bed, I'm trying to figure out how many cubic feet of dirt you'd need... (Math is not my strong suit!)

    That, and is it beneficial to put down a weed guard on top of any grass that you may be putting your bed on, or is it better to actually KILL the grass with Roundup or whatever?

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  4. Ideally, you should purchase soil, Liberty, because it will be free of weeds and weed seeds and should be full of good nutrients for your plants. However, if you're worried about the cost, you could use your existing garden soil, assuming it is reasonably good for gardening; just test it with a soil test kit first.

    In New Square Foot Gardening, the author offers a formula he uses for garden soil (a mix of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite), but just good soil and compost will do the trick. Here is a link to calculating how much soil you'll need: http://www.gardenguides.com/81126-calculate-much-soil-needed-raised-bed-planter-box.html

    Whether or not you cover up or kill the grass depends on the circumstances. If your beds will be at least 12 feet, I'd feel comfortable laying down landscaping cloth so the grass doesn't interfere. Otherwise, I'd kill the grass so I could till the soil below the raised bed to make "foot room" for the plants.

    But you can't use Roundup to kill the grass the same season you plan to plant; you'd have to cover the grass with black plastic (weighted with bricks or stones or something equally heavy so the plastic doesn't blow off) the year BEFORE planting (starting no later than fall). This method should also kill all the weeds in the area.

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  5. See, I've heard different things now about using Roundup. I've heard that after 2 weeks, it's safe to plant.

    Thanks for the tips!

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  6. Liberty, you're probably right that the Round Up labeling says that. I should have been more clear that I, personally, would not use it shortly before planting edibles.

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  7. Ah. Well, actually, that 2 weeks figure came from my BIL who is a horticulture guy at a nursery in Oregon. And, after I was thinking about it, he probably meant we shouldn't replant grass for 2 weeks after the Roundup did its work. He probably didn't mean vegetables.

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  8. Liberty, this piece from the National Pesticide Information Center might help you: http://npic.orst.edu/pestibytes/ep9.html

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