It's fun to plan a garden on paper. And the activity is not weather-dependent.
With a piece of graph paper (or plain paper) and a pencil, anyone can visualize the most wonderful garden. Use the guide below (from Gardening: An Ecological Approach) to lay out your garden beds and determine the number of plants and their spacings.
The dashed-line squares are 2' x 2'.
The dotted-line squares are 1' x 1'.
The space required for some common garden plants is indicated. For example, the first plant (lettuce) suggests 1 to 2 plants per square foot or 4 to 8 plants per 4 square feet. You may grow lettuce more densely than that, but the example explains my method. A broccoli plant requires 4 square feet (2' x 2').
I like these garden plans. They always grow. Have fun.
"Garden Planning" from Gardening: An Ecological Approach. © Fred Montague
