Square foot garden planner

How to use the square foot garden planner

This square foot garden planner helps homeowners and renters arrange plants in a foot-by-foot bed. Choose a bed size, select plants, and review plant totals, empty squares, spacing guidance, and companion checks, including 2 or 8 plants along a trellis row.

1. Choose a preset bed size or enter the Length and Width in feet.
2. Search the plant palette and select the Plant to place.
3. Tap a square to place the selected plant. Tap an occupied square with the same plant selected to clear it, or use Eraser.
4. Use the top edge marked “N · trellis side” for trellised plants.
5. Review Plant totals and Checks, then select Print when the layout is ready.

What to enter

Bed size

Choose 4 × 4 ft, 4 × 8 ft, 3 × 6 ft, or 2 × 8 ft. You can also enter custom Length and Width values.

Length

Enter the bed length in feet. It controls the grid columns. The default is 4 ft; values are rounded to whole feet and limited to 1–12 ft.

Width

Enter the bed width in feet. It controls the grid rows. The default is 4 ft; values are rounded to whole feet and limited to 1–12 ft.

Plant to place

Choose a plant from the palette. Tomato is selected by default. The note below the palette shows that plant's density, spacing in inches, and sun label.

Search plants

Type part of a plant name to filter the plant palette. Select a plant chip to make it the active choice.

Example: Plan a 4 × 4 ft bed

Start with the default Length of 4 ft and Width of 4 ft. The grid contains 4 × 4 = 16 squares, and the header initially shows 0 plants and 16 empty squares. Keep Tomato selected or search for another plant, then tap squares to place it. Select a different plant to place another type; tapping an occupied square replaces its current plant. Use the north edge marked “trellis side” when planning a trellis row, then review Plant totals and Checks before printing.

How the planner works

The grid uses Length as columns and Width as rows. Each grid cell represents one square foot. A selected plant is assigned to a cell, and the layout uses that plant's stored square-foot density to show plant totals and dots. Plant guidance can be 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square, 2 or 8 plants per square along a trellis row, or 1 plant across multiple squares. The selected plant note also shows spacing in inches and whether full sun or part sun is acceptable. The planner checks the layout for issues, marks squares included in companion warnings, and lists compatible plant pairs under Good neighbours.

Reading the results

The header shows the bed dimensions, total square count, total plants, and empty squares. Plant totals lists each placed plant with its Squares and Plants counts. Checks lists layout issues when present. A warning can outline affected grid squares in red. Good neighbours lists companion matches when the current layout contains them. Use Print to print the displayed bed plan.

Limitations and common mistakes

• The grid is limited to 1–12 ft for both Length and Width. Decimal values are rounded to whole feet, and blank or invalid entries become 1 ft.
• Resizing to a smaller bed removes placed cells outside the new rows or columns.
• A square holds one selected plant entry at a time. Selecting another plant and tapping that square replaces the existing entry.
• Companion advice is described by the tool as traditional and largely anecdotal. It is not a site-specific growing assessment.

Frequently asked questions