Companion Planting In A Square Foot Garden For More Yield

Square foot gardening is a style of gardening that makes the most of a simple grid plan for a small space. Square-foot companion planting adds another layer to this simple plan. Companion planting utilizes relationships between different vegetables to help each one grow better. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Why Companion Planting in a Square Foot Garden?

Square foot gardening is intensive gardening, a strategy that maximizes the plants grown in a small amount of space. Companion planting within an intensive garden can utilize the limited space even better.

Companion planting has other benefits that will enhance your garden. By pairing the right plants together, each one will grow better. For instance, the traditional Native American ‘three sisters’ were planted together for this reason. Beans fix nitrogen in the soil, corn provides a trellis for beans, and squash acts like a ground cover, shading out weeds.

Companion planting is just smart gardening, but it requires knowledge of what plants need and can provide. It’s even more of a challenge in a tight space, but with the right planning, you can maximize space and vegetable yield.

Companion Planting Square Foot Gardening Chart

A square-foot garden is a simple plan for gardening in a small space. Simply divide the space into one-square-foot (30.5 cm) segments and put one type of vegetable in each. The number of plants per square foot depends on the spacing they require:

• For veggies that need about three inches (7.6 cm) between plants, you can squeeze in sixteen. For example, make a grid of four-by-four carrots in a single square to get sixteen.
• For those that require four-six inches (15.2 cm) of spacing, plant four per square.
• For eight-inch (20.3 cm) spacing, put two plants in each square.
• For larger plants that need 12 inches of spacing, plant just one per square.

Square foot planting makes the most of a small space, but it also makes planning simple. Consider what you want to grow, determine the space you have to start a vegetable garden, and then draw a grid to plan what will go where.

Tips for Companion Square Foot Gardening

There is a lot to learn about companion planting, especially in small places, like a square foot. You can learn from gardening books, neighbors, and trial and error. Here are a few tips and ideas to get you started:

• Provide Shade and Shelter. Put taller vegetables next to those that do well with some shade or need cooler conditions. For instance, companion plants for lettuce will provide shade, for example pole beans on a trellis. Shade greens with broccoli or cauliflower.
• Mix Slow- and Fast-Maturing Plants. This can be a great way to fit more into one square foot. As an example, plant radishes or lettuces that grow quickly next to slower-growing carrots or Brussels sprouts. The radishes and lettuce will be ready to harvest sooner. Once you’ve removed them, the slower veggies can take over the space until they are ready to pick.
• Squeeze in Skinny Vegetables. Tall, narrow vegetables, like onions or garlic companions, can fit neatly between rows of other vegetables that are fairly compact, like lettuce.
• Deter Pests Naturally. Pests can be a real issue in the garden, but you don’t necessarily have to turn to chemical pesticides for a solution. To keep rabbits from nibbling plants, include marigold companion plants. They don’t like the smell of these cheerful flowers. You can also put onions and garlic near vegetables that pests find tasty to keep them away.

Companion planting and square-foot gardening go hand-in-hand. Both are smart, efficient gardening. Together, they make a powerhouse strategy for productive, successful vegetable gardens in less space.

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