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Square Foot Gardening is an intensive gardening technique that relies on a deep, free-draining and fertile growing medium (known as Mel's Mix) to grow plants at much closer spacings than normal. Beds are divided up into square foot blocks, and each square has a different vegetable sown in it with between 1 and 16 plants per square.

The idea is that while individual plants will produce less than those grown at their normal row spacings, having so many plants close together should result in a similar yield for the same space while suppressing weeds. Mixing up plant families may also help to confuse some pests.

Further details on the SFG method are available from https://squarefootgardening.org

When using SFG mode, plants are added in blocks 1ft x 1ft in size. The number of plants to be grown in that square is shown in the upper left corner of the block. Please note that when in SFG mode, you can't drag out rows.

To drag out rows again, turn off SFG mode as shown below.

To turn SFG mode on or off, tap the Planner Options menu (the 3 dots at the top right of your plan).

Select (or deselect) SFG Mode, then tap the cross on the top right to close the menu.

'Snap to Grid' (which automatically 'snaps' items to the nearest gridline to make it easier to position plants with pinpoint accuracy) is turned on by default when in SFG mode. You can turn it off if you wish by clicking on Snap to Grid below the SFG Mode checkbox.

Turn on SFG mode, then tap on the Plants icon in the Drawing Toolbar below your plan.

Tap on Filters.

Select Only Show SFG Plants.

Tap Done, then tap on the X at the top right to return to your plan.

Larger plants will now be hidden, so you can choose from only plants that are suitable for Square Foot Gardening until you de-select Only Show SFG plants or turn SFG mode off.

Tap on the Live Chat icon in the Garden Planner if you need help or have questions for our gardening experts.