Square foot garden mistakes to avoid
The square foot garden is one of the most suitable gardening methods for beginners. The genius behind it is that it makes the whole horticultural process accessible. No matter what stage of the growing season you are - planting, weeding, watering, or harvesting, you only handle 1'x1 'square at a time. The forerunner of this method was Mel Bartholomew, who started horticulture when he retired as a civil engineer. If you know the engineers you know, you know that they can never be lonely enough.
Luckily for us, no more, the square footage was born out of his frustration over regular row gardening. But as with learning anything new, it is easy to make mistakes. Do not discourage yourself from getting started because mistakes are a great way to learn. Even better if you can learn from the mistakes of others, what this post is about. I'm surrounded by the most common square foot gardening mistakes, so as a new square foot gardener you can avoid them. I created some of these myself; again and again. You know, just to help you.
1. You need to build raised beds
This is the first mistake gardeners make in a square foot garden. For many, the square foot garden goes hand in hand with raised beds. Keeping your garden within the walls will definitely help, but it is not necessary by any means.
You do not have to use raised beds to use the square foot gardening method. You can easily draw existing garden grids or go without digging.
2. Do not look at it blindly
You know the old adage, "Close only on horseshoes and grenades." This is especially true when it comes to square foot gardening. Since some of the vegetables you grow can have up to sixteen plants per square foot, it is important to make sure you have the full square footage to work with.
Use heavy rope or cotton string (it will last for the entire growing season) and mark the grid of your squares, keeping your string as flat as possible on the ground.
3. Honey, are these beets or radishes?
When they first emerge from the soil, almost all the seedlings will be the same. When you go out in your garden and you encounter the grid of small green leaves, good luck in trying to remember what they are.
Before you put even a seed in the dirt, take a little piece of paper with simple cut lines on the back and plan your garden first. Most importantly, if you change anything while planting the seeds, consider it in your garden plan.
4. I know we had trailed in the spring
Small paths are a big problem, which is a very common mistake when installing your square foot garden.
It is better to zoom in than you think your paths should be. I recommend 4 'paths. It sounds like a lot, but when you try to handle a wheelbarrow, kneel to pick beans, or when your cabbage has matured and is now growing in your small path, you will thank me.
In the end, if you decide that four feet are too big, it will be much easier to make your paths smaller next year than to renovate the garden that was established to enlarge the paths. Ask me how I know.
5. A square here, a square there, a square everywhere
Yes, this is a square foot gardening method, but that does not mean you have to walk everything in large square blocks. In fact, you can shade other vegetables if you do. Take tomatoes for example. If you plant all of your tomatoes in the central squares of your garden, you can shade the vegetables on either side of them.
Just because you plant in 1'x1 'squares does not mean you have to plant all your green beans in four squares that are locked together. Plant them in a row of four squares, or alternate squares with another vegetable - beans then carrots, then beans, then carrots. This is especially important when you are using supplementary plants.
6. Do not forget the flowers
Speaking of ancillary plants, many new square foot gardeners have nothing but vegetables in their brains and they forget to add flowers to their gardens.
The flowers attract pollen, and some flowers are even sub-plants. Other flowers with a strong odor can help keep deer and other furry creatures from eating your vegetables.
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