The Evolution: Functional and Beautiful

When we decided to move early this year, I knew we would have to find a place that would allow me to continue square foot gardening.  Though we looked at the property in March, I knew the backyard was south facing and a little larger than what I'd had before.  When the snow finally melted I discovered there would be a lot of work to do.  In this blog I will discuss how I conceptualized a Square Foot Garden for my new yard and how that concept became beautiful reality! 

 

So here's the new yard early in the Spring before it had even been mown and full of clutter.  I wanted my new SFG to be close to the backdoor where I could run down quickly to grab something fresh from the garden for supper and where it would get lots of sun.  I needed to have easy access on all sides.  I also wanted it to be more than just the plain box I had used in the previous year.

I made several drafts with detailed measurements.  There would be three boxes roughly 2' X 4' (8 squares in each box).  The middle box would be slightly deeper using 2 X 10 material (9 1/4" deep).  The other two boxes would be made from 2 X 8 material (7 1/4" deep).  I also chose to use 4 X 4 (actually 3 1/2")  fence post material to join each corner. The plan took into consideration width of the 1 X 1 nailing strips I'd be using for my square foot grid.

I had all my lumber pre-cut at Totem.  All together the wood, screws and L-brackets cost me about $50.  I attached the L-brackets to the wood where it would attach to the fence posts.  I opted to use L-brackets because I didn't want screws visible from the outside of the box.

Then I used a good quality exterior paint with primer on all my boards.  The L-brackets helped keep the painted boards off the ground.  I didn't bother painting the inside of the boards where the dirt would be.  I did however paint all the fence posts because they were pressure treated lumber and I didn't want any chemicals to leach into my Mel's Mix.

The painted wood was laid out on flat concrete and prepared for assembly.

My wonderful boyfriend Chris and my dad Les assembling the new box.

The new box was laid down in it's final resting place.  We use a level to make sure it was roughly level from side to side and front to back.  Some shims were used at one end to prop the box up a bit.  Then we use high quality weed barrier to line the boxes.  In the past I bought cheep landscape cloth from Dollarama but I could tell it was already disintegrating after only 1 season.  This time I paid a couple dollars more and bought high in stuff in bulk from Cobblestone Garden Centre and I know it will last.  We secured the cloth with small screws on the inside.

My mom Donna and dad Les drove down to Calgary over the May Long Weekend to help me assemble my new SFG.  A new garden requires time and effort and without their help I'm not sure I would have gotten it done in a single day.  Thank you!

The boxes filled up with Mel's Mix I moved over from my old house.  In this picture you can see the elevation of the middle box which I plan to use for plants requiring a little bit more depth.

The new grid laid in place.  I cut one foot lengths and used a melding plate to join them together with a 3/4" gap in between.  In that gap I laid down the four foot length that would bisect the middle.  This was a bit more effort than laths but I think it looks nicer and certainly took but a little less space.

The fence posts joining each corner were cut 3 inches taller than the depth of each box.

I found some plain white caps at Totem for about $1.50 which I used on the lower boxes.  On the upper box I used these lovely Tiffany glass caps which cost about $13 each at Home Depot.  For me my garden is a sanctuary and as I've mentioned the garden is not just functional but also beautiful.

 I ended up making a modification I hadn't anticipated after the boxes were built.  I found hundreds of huge slugs in my grass and rather than put down chemicals on a regular basis I found this copper mesh at Lee Valley which I stapled around the bottom of the box.  Slugs won't cross copper so I thought this was the best permanent and physical solution to dealing with the slugs.

So here's how the final product looks right after it was planted.  I was ecstatic when it was all done because I never imagined how perfectly my little sketch on graph paper would have turned out.  I am utterly delighted with my new Square Foot Garden and now have no regrets about leaving behind my old box.  This will provide me with hours of joy throughout many summers to come.

In my next blog I'll be sharing some tips about planting seeds and seedlings using the SFG method and discuss companion planting.