Comments on: How to Make a Square Foot Garden

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:03:36 +0000

I’m trying my first SFG this year after seeing and eating the success my friend in Stony Plain had.

To the lady asking about ants, try diatomaceious earth (you can find it at greenhouses and in Canadian Tire) – sprinkle it around, let the ants eat it and haul it back to their hill and you won’t see them again. We used it inside a travel trailer and got rid of hundreds of ants that way who had made a home in the electrical wiring pathways in the ceiling.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:40:48 +0000

That sounds fine by me!

By: Louise from Apple Tree Varieties

Louise from Apple Tree Varieties — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:48:41 +0000

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By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:57:57 +0000

Yup, that’s true. The rows of sfg are much more efficient. That’s what I do now. In my garden now, I use one long row of sfg – about 20×4. So including my three-foot paths on both sides, I use a swath of 10 feet. To plant that same amount in four single rows with three foot paths between each would take a swath of 19 ft – almost double the space. So in there I plant my carrots, onions, beets, lettuce, radishes, and other smaller plants. I do something similar with my interplanted corn and beans. But I still use the ‘traditional’ method of rows for my peas, and potatoes.

And Perhaps I shouldn’t speak for all ‘traditional gardeners’… But in my one large garden plot, I just put out the sprinkler which waters the ENTIRE garden (including paths). I also rototill in my compost and fertilizer and whatnot at the beginning of the season ALL OVER the garden (again, including paths).

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:51:44 +0000

I still don’t get why you would water and ferilize soil you only walk on, if there’s no benefits. Traditional gardeners would have picked up on that even though they use “The Old System”.

In traditional gardening you use 25% of the ground, if you have a 3 feet isle and then a 1 foot row to grow on, in a repetitive manner. You will get a better landuse if you do SFG in rows, 40% if you have one row with two 3 feet isles on both sides, and up to 57% at the most. But if you do it like on the pictures above, with isles on all sides of the box, you’ll only use 16% of the land with one box, and 19% with two.

So the system will only yeild a higher precentage if you do it in rows, and not isles around every 4×4 box like on the pictures. Having said that, the other benefits, like perfect soil, garden organisation (growing 16 carrots in one minibox and something else in another) and esthetics might compensate for the 6% land loss.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:10:34 +0000

In a traditional garden, you usually have a large square plot of ground. And even though you only grow things in narrow rows, you still water, weed, and fertilize the entire thing – including the part that you walk on. With the square foot gardening system, you only water, weed, and fertilize the soil that is actually growing your plants. The paths can be mulched, graveled, or even paved if you really want!

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:47:34 +0000

Sorry, but the “Save 80% of Your Garden”-thing sounds a little off, you do realise that you still need paths around the boxes (if you don’t engineer some kind of sliding system)?

I don’t have much gardening experience so I’m also wondering why you would want to water and ferilize the soil you just walk on?

Otherwise it’s a good idea because it looks kinda nice in relation to how practical it is.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:04:59 +0000

I was able to buy 110L bags of Vermiculite at Apache Seeds on 149st and Stony Plain Road in Edmonton. Also, I used Trex for my garden as it is not supposed to leach anything into the soil. I think that one could also use other composite decking materials like Azek that are made of PVC. At the end of the day though untreated wood or concrete (or stack stone) would probably be best.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:51:05 +0000

Yup, that’s right. After I read the 2005 “The All New Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew I was inspired to give it a try. It’s quite a bit different from the original “Square Foot Gardening” from 1981 so I would recommend the 2005 edition.

By: Your Gardener

Your Gardener — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:20:18 +0000

Apache Seeds (on 149 Street, just north of Stony Plain Road) has perlite, vermiculite, compost, etc. in large bags.

FYI, there’s really nothing new about SFG — it was first popularized in a book written by Mel Bartholomew called Square Foot Gardening published in 1981 (and republished in 2005), and much of the content in this site appears to have been lifted straight out of this book. In the Edmonton area, Greenwood’s & Audrey’s usually have copies available, as does the public library.