How to Make Grids for Square Foot Gardens

Square foot gardening techniques simplify the gardening process, so anyone can enjoy a flower or vegetable garden in a small space. One of the essentials of square foot gardening is the construction of the grid, which divides your growing box into 12 by 12 inch spaces designed to hold one plant each. The grid maximizes your garden space by eliminating inefficient row planting.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wood
• Plastic edging
• Utility knife
• Screws
• Twine
• Bamboo canes
• Window blinds

1. Choose a material to act as a divider for your square foot garden grid. You can use organic materials that break down, such as wood, or inorganic materials such as vinyl or plastic.

2. Size your grid material so that it isn't protruding from the top of the grow box. You can skip this step if you're using precut materials such as plastic edging.

3. Cut your grid material into four foot sections designed to fit snugly into your 4 by 4 foot growing box. Make cuts along the strips every 12 inches halfway through the strip or wood piece, taking care not to cut through the entire piece.

4. Align the cuts you made in the grid strips with one another, so that the cuts fit into each other like interlocking puzzle pieces. It's acceptable if the grid isn't rigid or perfect-looking; the growing plants will obscure the grid over time.

5. Use screws or twine to attach grid lengths to one another if the strips aren't broad enough to cut and interlock. For example, you can attach bamboo canes in this fashion.

Tips & Warnings

• The material you use to construct your grids can be flimsy, like discarded window blinds. The grids won't hold the soil, they merely demarcate the planting spaces in your growing box.
• Don't use pressure treated lumber for garden grids, as it contains arsenic and other toxins that can leach into the soil.