Square-foot gardening
Last reviewed September 2026 · written from public-domain USDA/NOAA data and Cooperative Extension references — see how we source data
Square-foot gardening divides a raised bed into a one-foot grid and assigns each square a set number of plants based on their spacing. It makes intensive planting easy to plan and is well suited to small beds.
The per-square counts
Divide 12 inches by the plant's in-row spacing and square the result. A crop spaced 3 inches apart gives 16 per square (carrots, radishes); 4 inches gives 9 (beets, spinach, bush beans); 6 inches gives 4 (lettuce, chard, basil); 12 inches gives 1 (tomato, pepper, broccoli, cabbage).
Large sprawling crops — winter squash, melons, indeterminate tomatoes without support — do not fit the grid and need one plant across two or more squares plus a trellis.
The bed and the mix
Classic beds are 4×4 feet and 6–12 inches deep, with a physical grid laid on top. Deeper is better for root crops and for anything you want to grow through a dry spell.
The traditional fill is equal parts compost (from several sources), peat moss or coco coir, and coarse vermiculite. The raised bed soil calculator gives the cubic feet of each for your bed size.
Where it shines
Beginners planning a small space, succession replanting (you refill one square at a time), and keeping track of rotation. Close spacing also shades out weeds once plants fill in.
Where to bend the rules
Heavy feeders like tomatoes and squash often do better with more room and airflow than the grid allows, which reduces disease. In hot, dry climates, very tight spacing competes for water. Treat the counts as a sensible maximum, not a target.