How to Grow Herbs in a Square Foot Garden Spacing
Square-foot gardening is a revolution in space utilization, ease of maintenance and production for growing most anything, but especially vegetables and herbs. Square-foot gardening is exactly that -- each section is a square foot, usually no more than two deep, by however long you wish the garden to be. Any more than two deep makes it hard to weed the middle one. However it's structured, you'll love the lack of weeding, there's less need to water, and you'll get almost double the production that you would expect from a normal row garden. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Bagged compost
- Soil-less potting soil
- Garden fertilizer
- Row markers
- Permanent marker
- Gloves
- Seeds
- Plants
Instructions
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1
Cut the top off the bag of compost, and fill each square half full. Don't pack it down, because you'll want plenty of space for the roots to grow. Add 1/4 cup of the fertilizer on top of the compost.
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2
Cut the top off the bag of soil-less soil and fill each square. Lightly pack this down.
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3
Dig a small hole in a square for a seedling, let's say rosemary. Rosemary needs some space for the plant itself, so plant no more than four rosemary seedlings per square. Lavender is also one that should have no more than four plants in one square. The hole should be large enough for the root, plus about 3/4 inch around and below. Set the plant in and pull the dirt around it, patting the soil down so that the roots make good contact with the soil. Mark each square with a plant marker with the plant name on it.
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4
Level the soil in the square where you will be planting seeds. Press the soil down gently. Pour the seeds into the palm of one hand, and with the other, pinch out a few seeds at a time to cover the entire square. Cover with 1/2 inch of soil-less soil.
To have a steady supply of popular herbs such as basil and cilantro, plant only half of a square with seed, and in two to three weeks, plant the rest of the square. You can have a steady supply from spring to frost by repeating this. The square-foot size is perfect for herbs,
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5
Water the entire garden area when you are done planting.
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Tips & Warnings
If your garden spot is in an area that doesn't get a good breeze, you may need to spritz young plants with a mixture of white vinegar and water to deter little flying bugs. The recipe is 1/4 cup vinegar to 2 cups water.
References
- Photo Credit Martin Poole/Digital Vision/Getty Images
