Seeding Square Review: An Essential Tool for the Square Foot Gardener

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The Square Foot Gardening method has been my go-to since I began gardening. I love it for many reasons. It allows me to maximize my planting space. Close spacing keeps weed growth to a minimum. My favorite aspect, though, is how organized everything looks. I love that each square foot has a purpose. The spacing requirements make it easy to spot weeds and thinning seedlings is a piece of cake.

Even with a grid, though, it’s a bit tough to accurately eyeball spacing, especially for crops like carrots and radishes, which are planted 16 per square foot. My self-made holes aren’t always perfectly aligned, and I often get the planting depth wrong. I also have a few beds in my garden without grids, mainly because I plant crops that take up more than a few squares in those areas. What happens if I choose to opt for SFG spacing there? I often forget where I’ve started sowing, and I’m left hoping that I haven’t double sown certain areas.

The Seeding Square is an attempt to make the Square Foot Gardening method even easier. Sure, a stick works wonders in a pinch, but having perfectly spaced holes really makes a difference. The gardening tool ships in a square-shaped box. The square itself is slightly raised with a hollow back end to allow for indentations in the soil. As you stamp the square into the earth, it creates a makeshift grid. The Seeding Square includes a small plastic dibbler with seed depth indicators. On another side of the wand is a spoon-shaped end for scooping up seeds. A third funnel piece clicks to the unit for storage and is used to direct seeds into their respective holes.

The Seeding Square itself is full of color-coded holes to help guide your planting. If you’re planting carrot seeds, for instance, you’d use the wand to poke 16 holes through the red-colored circles. The color-coding concept is a fantastic teaching tool for introducing newcomers to the SFG method. It’s also a great way to get kids involved in gardening. The package also includes planting guides to help gardeners get started. They’re easily downloaded online should you lose or misplace them.

So how did I like using the Seeding Square? Last week, the soil finally warmed, and I was ready to begin sowing cool-weather plants like spinach and bok choy. It was the perfect time to put the Seeding Square to the test. First off, I’ll say that I was incredibly impressed by the construction of the gardening accessory. It’s super sturdy, and I wasn’t afraid to press it firmly into the soil. I imagine it’ll hold up for a long while.

Part of my garden features semi-permanent wooden grids, which is where I first began my planting. It’s a bit tough to use the square atop a grid, but if my beds were completely filled, I suspect it would be easier. I still managed to poke the holes I needed, and planting was done quickly.

In the no-grid portion of my garden, the Seeding Square really made my life easier. A quick press into the soil and my faux-grid was finished in no time. I expect perfect squares of seedlings to pop up any day now!

I didn’t end up using the spoon end of the wand nor did I find myself choosing to use the funnel, but they’re helpful add-ons that others may find useful. I love that there’s little chance of losing the wand (if I’m careful to put it back in its spot) because it magnetizes to the square. The square itself is also super easy to clean. It got all mucked up with compost and dirt when I was planting and a quick rinse off under the tap and it looked good as new.

I look forward to using the Seeding Square throughout the season and beyond. It’s a well thought out tool that’s built-to-last, and it works exactly as intended. I even left my first planting day of the season without dirt under my fingernails! What I’m about to type is a bit of blasphemy in the world of SFG, but the Seeding Square has me thinking that I may not replace my grids once they eventually rot away.

Why do I recommend this product to frugal gardeners? It’s a small investment that will last you a long time. It’s also a great entry tool for those interested in Square Foot Gardening. I’m a big believer that organization in the garden leads to pennies saved.

Check out the Seeding Square website for more info. The product may also be purchased on Amazon.

Disclaimer: I was graciously gifted a seeding square in exchange for an honest review.