Square Foot Garden Spacing for Big Harvests (+Free Chart) (2024)

INSIDE: Wondering how many plants to plant per sq ft? Learn how to space all your vegetables in this helpful guide to square foot garden spacing + snag a free chart!

If you’re new to vegetable gardening, have a limited amount of space, or want to spend less time this summer pulling weeds in the hot sun as the mosquitos dine on your neck, square foot gardening is for you!

It’s a simple method of creating small, highly productive vegetable gardens.

You can grow a lot of produce in a small area and spend less time on gardening chores like watering and weeding.

But one of the biggest concerns for gardeners new to square foot gardening is proper plant spacing.

If you’ve ever struggled to get your spacing right or don’t know how to space certain plants, keep reading to learn everything you need to know about plant spacing in your square foot garden.

But first, could you use a FREE square foot spacing guide that’s easy to use even if you’re new to square foot gardening? It’s the best way to eliminate spacing confusion.

Heads up: If you buy something after clicking a link in this post, I’ll earn a small commission. I only link to products I’d recommend to my best friend.

What is square foot gardening?

Square foot gardening is a gardening method designed to maximize your yields within a small space.

It emphasizes the efficient use of space, allowing you to cultivate a diverse range of plants in a compact area.

It’s an easy system to implement.

The basic concept is that you divide your garden into wide rows that are sub-divided into square feet.

Within each square foot, you space your plants closely to maximize your yields, shade out weeds, and keep your soil from drying out.

One of the great benefits of growing this way is that you’ll spend less time on maintenance chores like weeding, watering, and thinning seedlings.

It’s a vast improvement over traditional row gardening!

This idea was popularized by Mel Bartholomew in the book, All New Square Foot Gardening.

Prices last updated on 2024-02-19 at 09:28

If you follow the instructions in the book to the letter, you’d create raised beds in your garden and then subdivide the raised beds into one-foot squares and place a permanent grid on top.

But do you really need to build raised beds?

No, you don’t have to build raised beds to have a successful square foot garden. I’ve grown a productive in-ground square foot garden for years.

But there are some circ*mstances where raised beds make sense.

If you have:

• Very poorly draining soil.
• Very rocky soil (more rocks than soil).
• A bad back or other mobility issues and you want to raise the height of your garden.
• Contaminated soil. (You’ll need to put a barrier under the bed to make sure your plant roots can’t get to the soil underneath).

Then it makes sense to garden in raised beds.

The good news is you can create wide beds in any garden without the expense and hassle of building raised beds.

Related: The Best Vegetable Gardening Books

How to create a square foot garden layout

To create your layout, all you need to do is decide where you’ll walk and where you won’t.

In my garden, I laid out 3′ wide walkways (wide enough for a wheelbarrow) and 4′ wide beds.

And I don’t use raised beds.

Quick Tip: For the best possible results, download my free one page Square Foot Gardening Chart so you can quickly find the right spacing for over 20 vegetables.

Why use 4′ wide beds in square foot gardens?

Four feet is the width that’s most comfortable for most of us to reach into without toppling over into the bed or stepping on the soil.

Try to avoid stepping on your soil and compacting it as much as possible.

Plant roots need air to grow well, and compacting your soil destroys those air spaces.

If you have shorter arms, make your beds as wide as is comfortable for you to reach into the middle of.

So, all you have to do is:

1. Lay out 4-foot (or less) wide beds.
2. Make them whatever length you want.
3. And then create designated walking paths around the beds.
4. And voilà! You’re a square foot gardener.

Related: Free garden printables

Square foot gardening pro-tip

Create square-foot beds that are no more than 4 feet wide so you can easily reach the middle. You can make them any length you like.

Square foot gardening example

Here’s how I’ve laid out the beds in my garden:

I have one long 3’ wide, 33’ long bed that runs along the back.

And I have five 4’ wide beds:

• 4 x 10’
• 4 x 12‘
• 4 x 8’
• 4 x 8.5’
• 4 x 5’

Do you need a square foot gardening grid?

If you pick up a copy of All New Square Foot Gardening, you’ll see advice for laying out a grid on top of your beds using string or lathe.

This is totally unnecessary and, in my opinion, makes working in the garden more difficult than it should be.

But don’t I need it to get my spacing right?

No, you don’t.

Plus, no matter what you make the grid out of, it won’t last forever.

So, you’ll need to replace it.

And a grid makes it harder to harvest, weed, and spread compost or other amendments.

All you need to lay out your beds is a ruler and a measuring tape.

So, make things easier on yourself and skip the grid.

How to divide your garden into square foot sections

It’s easy to plan your squares and get your seeds or seedlings spaced correctly.

Materials needed:

• tape measure
• ruler
• stick

1. Measure your garden bed:
   • Use the tape measure to measure the length and width of the garden bed.
   • Record the measurements to know how many square-foot sections can be created.
2. Mark one-foot intervals along the length:
   • Use the tape measure and a stick to make small lines or indents in the soil at every 12 inches along the length of the garden bed.
3. Mark one-foot intervals along the width:
   • Repeat the marking process at every one-foot interval along the width.
   • The intersections of the lines will create one-foot sections.
4. Draw lines to create sections:
   • Use the stick as a drawing tool. Place the ruler on each mark and use the stick to draw straight lines in the soil, connecting the marks along the length and then the width.
   • Ensure the lines are visible and straight to create even sections.

Square foot garden spacing

Once you have your beds laid out and it’s time to plant, you’ll need to properly space your plants or seeds in each square foot.

I use a ruler and tape measure while I’m planting to help me space everything correctly.

How many plants you can fit in a square foot depends on the size of the plant. The smaller the plant is, the more you can fit in one square foot.

Wish you didn’t have to spend one more minute looking up square foot spacing? Download a helpful square foot gardening chart that’s easy to use even if you’re a new gardener.

Plant spacing guide

I know you’ve been wondering how many vegetables to plant per square foot. So, here are the guidelines to follow when planting, all in one handy plant spacing chart!

16 plants per square foot

This close spacing is for small veggies like carrots and radishes.

• Carrots
• Radishes

8 plants per square foot

Use this spacing when growing peas or beans vertically on a trellis.

• Peas
• Pole Beans

9 plants per square foot

Some leafy greens can be planted this close.

• Arugula
• Bush beans
• Lettuce, leaf (baby)
• Scallions
• Spinach
• Turnips

4 plants per square foot

• Beets
• Garlic
• Kale, baby
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce, leaf
• Leeks
• Shallots
• Onions
• Parsnips
• Parsley
• Swiss chard
• Thyme

Find the right spacing for your vegetables in 2 minutes. Get your FREE Square Foot Garden Spacing Chart now.

1 plant per square foot

• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Cilantro
• Corn
• Cucumbers (on a trellis)
• Eggplant
• Kale, full-size
• Lettuce, head (romaine, butterhead, etc.)
• Most herbs
• Okra
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Sunflowers
• Sweet Potatoes

1 plant per 2 square feet

• Asparagus
• Squash (small, vining)

1 plant per 4 square feet

• Melons
• Tomatoes
• Squash (large vining)

1 plant per 9 square feet

• Squash, bush
• Zucchini

Ready to spend less time thinning seedlings, weeding, and watering? Download your FREE Square Foot Garden Spacing Chart and start saving time in your garden.

Square foot garden guide: 7 tips for success

1. Skip the grid to mark out the squares.
   • As discussed above, it’s unnecessary and more work than it’s worth.
   • You can easily keep your square foot garden organized with a ruler and tape measure.
2. Spend some time considering whether or not you need to invest in raised beds for your square foot garden. Most gardeners don’t need to go to the trouble and expense.
3. Harvest and prune regularly.
   • Pruning is especially important for tomatoes!
   • Make sure you know how to properly prune your tomatoes so you’re prepared before your plants get out of control.
4. Strategically plant crops so they put shade where you want it.
   • With square foot gardening, you can have a lot of variety in a small space, so it’s important to understand how the plants will grow and potentially compete with each other for sun.
   • Unless you live in an area with very warm summers or have intense sunlight and need to shade certain plants, plant taller crops and those that require a trellis in such a way that they don’t shade out other plants.
5. Use trellises or other supports like bean teepees.
   • Using trellises in your square foot garden will maximize your garden even more.
   • Add trellises for vining or climbing crops like melons, cucumbers, winter squashes, peas, and pole beans.
6. Plant crops with like water needs together. For example, some crops, like cabbage and broccoli have heavy water needs, so you’ll want to plant them near each other. This is an important factor whether or not you grow in a square foot garden.
7. Mulch your square foot garden. Mulching your garden is my biggest tip for any gardener, and it’s especially important in a square foot garden.
   • Mulch retains moisture, breaks down to provide nutrients, and protects the health of your soil.
   • In square foot gardening, maintaining good soil health and nutrition is critical, since you’re growing a lot of plants in a small space.

How to avoid unhappy, overcrowded plants

While the square foot gardening method is efficient, simple to implement, and requires less maintenance than a row garden, it’s not a totally passive way to garden.

You may need to adjust things to fit your garden’s needs and find the proper spacing for some vegetables.

So, here are some things to keep in mind…

How can you avoid crowding your plants?

Be mindful of the natural spread of larger plants like tomatoes and large, vining squash

• They both need more room than Mel gave them in his books.
• That’s why I’ve recommended wider spacing for these plants.
• And it’s important to prune these larger plants several times each growing season to keep them in check.

Keep your harvest goals in mind as you plant

It makes a difference if you want to grow baby greens or mature heads of lettuce.

So, I’ve given alternate spacing for growing baby salad vegetables.

Watch for any issues related to crowding

1. Some gardeners have found that disease issues can be exacerbated due to reduced airflow around the plants.
2. So, if you find this to be an issue, increase the distance between those plants.
3. Adjusting plant spacing slightly will alleviate crowding and promote healthier plants and higher yields.

The bottom line? If your plants seem crowded, bump them up to a wider spacing.

Your soil quality matters

Your garden soil’s quality and nutrient levels are crucial factors that will affect your yields.

For plants to thrive in square foot gardens, they need rich soil that can support a high number of plants in a small growing space.

That’s why I recommend getting your soil tested before you plant.

Healthy soil will make your plants feel less crowded.

Frequently asked questions about square foot spacing

Download your free square foot garden chart

It’s easy to get the right spacing for your vegetables. Just download the Square Foot Planting Chart and:

1. Print it.
2. Put it in a handy spot.
3. Pull it out when you’re planting and not sure of the proper spacing.

It really is that easy!

Here’s a sneak peek of your chart:

Your Turn: Have you tried square foot garden spacing?

Do you love square foot gardening, or are you ready to try it?

I’d love to hear about your experiences!

Share your stories or questions in the comments below.