Square Foot Gardening

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Comment by Helene Stovall on March 21, 2010 at 4:52pm

I am in northern California, where the temp gets up to 112 through the summer. I have a garden 24x27. anyone else trying to grow in extreme temps?

Comment by Alice MacArthur on March 14, 2010 at 5:37pm

I spent this weekend dividing up my 3 - 4' x 10' raised beds into 1 foot squares. I used thin marine twine that is orange so it's easy to see. I planted onions, carrots and radishes and am really excited to replant my radishes and have fresh ones all growing season!

Comment by Anisah David on January 7, 2010 at 12:46am

I've got sort of an odd solution for the fruit tree shoots. Propagate them! Cut them as young shoots & put them in pots with some root hormone. If they come thru the transfer, you can donate them to others who might appreciate a hardy tree that grows well in the local area. Mind you, I'm one who'd love a chance to have an apple tree! As for barriers, here in So. Dakota people are using old carpeting to make weed barriers in new windrows. Its one of the few things that keep the crab grass from taking over. SO they cut a hole for the little tree to grow in, while the rest of the area is carpeted with old soiled toss-away carpeting. Thing seems to work really well as a barrier & allows the moister to seep through. I'd think it would also work for tree shoots in areas you want to limit their growing, but could place raised beds on top of the carpeting. Just an idea. That way you don't loose the actually space, just the earth under the carpet.

Comment by Perry Rosenfeld on January 3, 2010 at 11:01am

Violet you can definitely grow fruits up a trellis or line. My vericle supports are galvanized pipe and jute threads for the plants to grasp or be trained up. I have personally grown cantaloupes this way. Plants grown vertically need more water, but stay cleaner and more disease free.

Comment by Lee Ann Phillips Zone 7B N.TX on November 17, 2009 at 8:39am

Hey Violet: I think cardboard dividers won't work-like you said, they'll get wet and mushy and disintegrate very fast. If I was going to do a square-foot garden, I'd use some old vinyl slats from window blinds, or you could probably either buy the cheaper blinds or find some at a garage sale. They are easy to cut. Or get some molding strips from the 'dump bin' at the lumber store. They're usually wood, but would be better than cardboard.

Comment by Lee Ann Phillips Zone 7B N.TX on November 17, 2009 at 8:34am

The only thing I can think of is a physical barrier, like metal edging driven into the ground. I'd be afraid of hurting the tree if I chopped out too many of the roots. I don't have any good ideas for you, sorry.

Comment by Deanna Collins z4/MT on November 16, 2009 at 11:01pm

There is one other problem with fruit trees. At least some of them. We have an apple (possibly a red delicious) and the roots send up sprouts all along its length and the roots go a long, long way across our yard. They are definitely a royal pain and I have to be so very careful about where I put my Sq Ft boxes, or they will have trees growing out of them before I can do anything about it. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to stop this, short of cutting down the tree!!!?

Comment by Lee Ann Phillips Zone 7B N.TX on November 16, 2009 at 8:43pm

That 4-square-ft. space I'm talking about would be for a dwarf tree, I forgot to say. Even that's extremely tight. If you have other space, I would recommend using a bigger, separate space for a fruit tree. ALSO, and I almost forgot this, many fruit trees require another tree to pollinate them, so you would have to make room for two in a lot of cases. I don't mean to sound discouraging. Many people grow fruit trees (semi-dwarf or dwarf) in whisky barrel planters and do perfectly well with them. You just need to remember that fruit trees need more space than is really available in a square-foot garden. Now, I look forward to hearing from someone who has done exactly that and had it work! There's always the exception!

Comment by Lee Ann Phillips Zone 7B N.TX on November 16, 2009 at 8:36pm

Hi, I'm new. I was flipping through the group offerings and saw Violet's questions. If you do grow cantelope or watermelons or any other fruits up a trellis on the end, make sure it's on the northern-most end, so they won't shade whatever else is in the bed (unless, of course, they need shade-but not many veggies do). Also, before you think of growing a fruit tree, you need to find out which varieties are good for your climate zone. Some fruits need more cold temps than others, and then some fruits that don't need that many cold hours might bloom too soon, and then the developing fruits would get hit by a freeze, and bye-bye fruit! Many fruit trees are available in dwarf sizes that take up little space, and you could also espalier many of them on a wall or wire between two posts. But they really shouldn't be confined to a square-foot garden with other plants. They would need at least one whole 4 square ft section, at the very minimum.

Comment by Violet on August 31, 2009 at 10:57pm

I saaw a picture of using cardboard for the dividers of the boxes. Is that good to use? Doesn't it get messed up when wet?

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