What Doesn’t Work for a Square Foot Garden Grid

My Square Foot Garden is bordered with brick, as you have seen in my other blog pictures. It would be easier to make a traditional square foot grid, if my garden was made out of wood. But, brick is what I have. It came with the house. So instead of making a wooden grid, I looked online to see what other people have used in place of wooden slats. I tossed out several of the ideas I saw there because they were not “pretty” enough. Since my garden is at the front door, which is very convenient, it needs to be neat, tidy and pleasing to the eye.

I even walked around hardware and garden center stores looking for materials I might repurpose. Nothing seemed quite right. Then, one day I was chatting with my sister about this, and an idea came to me. Why not use tent pegs and some sort of rope or line? I was sure there would be several options at camping supply stores. There were. I found the yellow pegs you see in the picture online at REI. Very cute and functional. I bought three bags of six pegs. They cost less than $15.00 delivered. Then I found the clothes line you see above. It is almost the same color as the pegs. I ordered two, also less than $15.00.  The yellow grid will look so cute in my garden, or so I thought. The problem is that the rope is made of a polypropylene material. This is good, in that it will not rot in the elements. However, it is almost impossible to attach to the pegs. It is too stiff and too slippery. Oh, well.

So my plan was to create the grid today, while I am waiting on a FedEx delivery, but that won’t happen. I now need to find another material to use. I’m keeping the pegs. They give me a flexibility that a rigid grid would not give me. I can also rinse them off with a hose and pack them up in a plastic bag when not in use. I have two places in mind to search for cord of a different material, the local hardware store, and the large home supply store. I’ll take a peg with me, so I can experiment with what I find, before making a purchase.

Hmmm. Another brain storm. Maybe I can just wrap this yellow clothes line material around each peg, and only have to worry about attaching it to the last one? The pegs have a hook on each side. If I can get the rope to stay under one of the hooks, as it is wrapped around the peg, perhaps it will stay in place? After all, the grid is not there to support anything. It is just a way to delineate each square foot, making it easier to plant. I’ll experiment with this idea. After all, FedEx isn’t here yet, I have plenty of time! I’ll let you know how this works out, so you might use the same idea, if your garden does not lend itself to wooden grids.

Until next time,

Elizabeth