How to Plant a Compact Vegetable Garden
What makes this compact garden so productive is that you will be placing plants close together in squares instead of traditional rows. You can continue to plant as you harvest.
What You’ll Need
- Hammer
- Saw
- Shovel
- Wire cutters
- Tape measure
- 4 4-foot 2-by-10’s
- 16d galvanized nails
- 2 6-foot 2-by-4’s
- 4-foot 2-by-4
- 49 feet of 12-gauge galvanized wire, cut into 7 7-foot lengths
- 8d galvanized nails
- About 1/2 cubic yard or 14 cubic feet of good garden soil
- A sunny spot for your garden
What You’ll Do
Frame
1. Using the 2-by-10’s and 16d nails, hammer together a 4-foot square.
Trellis
2. Nail the 6-foot 2-by-4’s to the back of the frame.
3. Nail the 4-foot 2-by-4 across the back of the uprights.
4. Attach the 7 wires on the back of the trellis by wrapping wires around nails.
Planting
Fill the frame with good garden soil. Divide it into 16 squares. The smaller the mature plant, the more you can plant in each square.
A Helpful Garden
Nail 5/8-inch or heavier exterior plywood to the bottom of the frame and lift the frame to table height by placing it on sturdy saw horses or legs. Once filled with soil, it will be easily accessible to a person in a wheelchair or someone who is more comfortable sitting than kneeling.
Can you substitute different plants for the ones shown?
You can often get used fencing from local fence companies. You can ask tree trimming companies of they’ll drop their haul of the day at your place for mulching. Flag one down in your neighborhood. You’d be surprised how willing people are to help establish gardens!
I echo Sarina’s question what direction should it face?
South your garden needs to face south
this may be silly, but what holds the bottom together? Like if I wanted to set it on sawhorses what would be holding everything together?
PUT SOME BRACING ON BOTTOM AT 45 DEGREE ANGLE AND LINE IT. GO GREEN
Kelly, the last paragraph answers your question – “Nail 5/8-inch or heavier exterior plywood to the bottom of the frame”
What’s the best direction to face this garden. Should the vines face south so they don’t block the sun?
Our local lumber yard suggested using cyprus for this. We did and it turned out great, light weight too. If we decide to move it to another spot in the yard we can before we fill it with dirt and seeds.
Maybe a dumb question, but what are the measurements of this box?
16 cubic feet 16 1 cubic foot sections
4 foot square.
This sounds great. Will have to have my hubby build one of these for me on the saw horses.
If you use pressure treated wood can you use a weed liner around the box so that it doesn’t make direct contact or will that still hurt the veggies?
Yellawood is a pressure treated lumber that will not hurt your plants. You can get Yellawood at Home Depot.
Can this type of planter be used on a deck or cement patio?
This can also be put on sawhorses for wheelchair gardeners. There is a book by Mel Bartholomew called Square Foot Gardening that teaches you this method and it is great. I got all my wood from construction sites garbage piles, and old litte league bleachers.