Welcome to a guide to choosing which SFG box is best for you. In this photo-guide, just follow the steps. However, steps 2 and 3 only apply to the yard boxes.
Step 1 – Choose Your Location
Yard
Our yard boxes come in a variety of sizes, from 2×2 to 4×12. You can choose between red or white cedar, as well as selecting between a pin or bolt corner.
Deck/Patio
This Rustic Cedar box is fully assembled from select natural 1″x6″ lumber. With a solid plywood bottom and drainage holes, it is ready to be filled with Mel’s Mix. This can also be ordered with legs for stand-up or sit-down gardening.
Fence/Railing
This select natural Rustic Cedar fence box is fully assembled with closed bottoms and drainage holes. It is ready to be filled with Mel’s Mix, or you can order it filled with Mel’s Mix at only $2/foot.
Step 2 – Choose Your Corner
Pin Corner
Pin Corner Deconstructed
Bolt Corner
Bolt Corner Deconstructed
Step 3 – Choose Your Wood
White Cedar
Red Cedar
If you enjoyed this post or have any questions, I would love it if you shared it with friends or simply left me a comment. I try to respond to all comments as soon as possible. If you have specific questions, our forum or Facebook page are great ways to learn from experienced SFGers.
I have problems with termites destroying my boxes every year or two, any ideas of another material i could use instead of wood to keep them from damaging my boxes. Thanks!
Dear Mark,
Mark, you didn’t tell me what state you live in but you need to find some kind of material that termites will not eat. Concrete works. You can make your boxes out of cinder block or cement blocks. For something really permanent, you could even find concrete beams or make your own. That’s kind of extreme and would probably take a lot of effort. You could also use bricks loosely put in or cemented in place. Standing up on a cement base or cemented like a brick wall.
Next would be things that they make decks out of – artificial wood. Some I wouldn’t put in a garden, but others are safe for gardening. Go to your homebuilding places and ask them what they have for decks. It’s easily sawed, drilled, put together and it’s permanent. It’s expensive and heavy but is resistant to termites.
Next would be to take a look at the vinyl boxes on our website. They’re attractive, lightweight, last forever and look good in the garden. You can order those kits in whatever size you want. You could replace all of the wood with vinyl. We use them all of the time and they’re very attractive and easy to put together. All pre-drilled as well.
Next would be to get some wood that’s more resistant to termites. I think our cedar boxes might do that, but termites will eventually get that too. The biggest problem is wood touching the soil. If there’s a connection there they will, but if not I’m not sure they will.
Based on your letter I got thinking. What if we laid down our weed fabric? It’s tough and dense, so if you laid that down and then put the wood on top of that. You might even lay down two layers and I have a feeling that the termites wouldn’t bother the wood. Would you do an experiment? How long has it taken the termites to get to your wood in the past? Can you see the termites when you lift the wood? Have you been using a weed cloth in the past? What kind of wood were your boxes made out of? Give me a little more information and we could delve into this. Maybe we could even discover something new and help a lot of people around the world. Termites are a big problem around the world in every continent.
You might do some research for us and get one of the vinyl boxes for us, try some existing wood with weed cloth and then try brick or concrete block. I would stay away from using homemade remedies or any kind of poison that they say will keep termites out. I might also do another box with the artificial wood.
Hope that helps you. Good luck, please stay in touch and let us know what you decide to do.
Happy Gardening,
Mel
Hello Mel,
I am new to this type of gardening. I wish I could give help to the termite situation. As far as choosing the type of box to build, you have said in your book not to use pretreated lumber. The house we just moved into has a pool & deck. We would love to recycle the pool deck for the boxes. Is there any possible way to use the decking for the boxes? Possibly wrap in visquine?
Dear Renee,
Thanks for your letter. Sounds like you’re going to have a very attractive Square Foot Garden. To be able to recycle would be well worthwhile and a good thing for the environment. I do believe you could line the timber with the Visqueen in order to keep the soil from touching the wood. You don’t want to wrap the whole timber because that would be unattractive. You only need a barrier between the wood and the soil. Keep in mind that you should line the bottom of your boxes with a good strong commercial grade weed fabric. That will give you a weedless SFG. Hope this helps in your new design and send us some pictures so we can share them with others.
Best Wishes,
Mel
Thanks for the info! We’ll keep you posted on how it comes out.
Renee
I read in your newest book to remove grass/weeds before laying down weed barrier. Is this still true? It looks like in the picture that goes along with it that it is being set right on top of the grass.
Dear Renee,
Thank you for your letter and yes, I can see where there is some confusion. Sometimes we take the grass out. Sometimes we don’t. It depends on a couple of things. One is how ambitious you are and two how many boxes you’re going to have. The ideal would be to take the grass out, you have to just strip it out. You don’t have to dig down very much and you don’t have to take all the roots out. Just strip off the grassy part. Then when you put down your weed fabric that will not allow the grass to regenerate or come up into your garden. If you have just one box or two and it won’t be much work I would say take the grass out and that would be the best thing. Then you would be sure that you won’t have any grass or weeds coming up into your box.
If you’re putting in a big garden that’s another question and that’s a lot of work. We have found that if you mow your grass real low where the box is going to be then you can put down your weed fabric and it usually prevents the weeds from coming up and the grass; grass and weeds. A lot depends on what kind of weed fabric you get. The kind we furnish with all of our boxes when you order them from us on our website is a very heavy duty commercial grade. We’re a little hesitant to tell people to put down a weed fabric. They’ll go out and buy some cheap weed cloth, sometimes it’s just plastic and it won’t last very long and the weeds will poke right through it. So that’s our only hesitation.
To be absolutely sure, take the grass out. If you’ve got a lot to do and you don’t want to do that much work take a little risk and just make sure you have a good weed fabric. You can order just the weed fabric by itself if you want from our website and then you’ll know you have a good one. I hope that helps and answers your question. Yes, we had a problem with the book because we say one thing and the photographer and the editor came and took pictures of something different so we’re going to try to correct that confusion in an updated version in another couple of years. Thanks again for you letter and good luck with your garden. Take some pictures of what’s happening and send it to us especially if you’re just starting. That would encourage other people to say well if she could do it I could do it too.
Happy gardening,
Mel
You say to use untreated plywood but doesn’t all plywood have glue in it? I need a bottom since I might have to move the garden and my situation is temporary so I am not looking to invest in something nice or long lasting – just something that will work for a year or two and won’t lead to poisonous vegetables.
Hi Carl,
I’ll have to confess to you that I don’t believe I have ever said “untreated plywood.” I’ve said untreated wood for a yard garden – but yes, all plywood does have glue in it and I’m not sure if it affects vegetables or not. So, what I’ve suggested for anyone concerned about plywood contamination is to still use regular plywood – doesn’t need to be waterproof – but line the bottom and sides with one sheet of heavy clear plastic 6mm thickness.
Then, take a pencil or nail and punch a hole through the plastic at each of your drainage holes. Then any water that accumulates at the bottom can drain out and it’s always going in the downward direction. I think that would minimize the contact of the soil with the plywood and protect your veggies and plants that way. The only other solution is to make the bottom out of untreated lumber, but you would have to buy 1′”x6,8,10″ which becomes expensive. I’d stick with the plywood and do the plastic bottom.
That type of bottom would also come in handy if you wanted to remove some of the soil into bags using a dust pan. Leave about 1/2 of it in the box and just pick up the bottom like you would a bag. I don’t think much soil would leak out of those little holes. Hope that helps and happy gardening.
Best Wishes,
Mel
Hi Mel,
I’m just starting out with SFG this spring. I read your old book from the library and love it so much that I bought the new one.
I’m using large discarded kitchen cabinets for my SGF. I drilled holes in the backs which became the bottoms, and filled them with your old mix before I bought the new book. The 3 cabinets are 12 inches high, and I find I love the height.
My question is this: I’m wondering if the laminate that they are made of is safe for growing vegetables in? I figured since it’s used around food already it would be OK. What do you think?
Dear Cape Coddess,
That’s a very innovative idea, your question is one of those you can toss up and see if it’s heads or tails. I’m sure you’ll find some that say no don’t use it; others say it will never matter. I guess I’d have to really look at the surface and see what it is, and whether even though it’s old, if it’s possible for any of the materials to get into the soil, and the garden, and the vegetables.
And of course it depends a lot on how fussy you are, and how much of a purist. There are some that don’t want even contact with just plain old wood, others have said I don’t even want to use brick or cement blocks, because they have all that alkaline in them. So I usually say, if you’re overly concerned; you can always line the bottom and the sides with clear plastic. I would use a heavy, perhaps a 6 mill thickness, and you will have to punch a few holes for drainage, maybe where you have the same holes in the wood cabinet.
The other thing you could use since you’ve got 12 inches deep, is put in 6 inches of sand which we usually recommend; because it drains well, but you could use the soil you’ve already made, and then put down the wheat fabric, and that would keep the roots from going down through the other soil, and touching the bottom, and then just line the top 6 inches sides’ with clear plastic. But that’s only if you’re concerned about it. I think, kind of the answer is, compared to the chemical fertilisers, and poisons, and insecticides that are sprayed on commercial grown crops, and even some of the things that happen to those crops before they get to the store, I don’t think I’d be overly concerned about things that you’re growing in your own back yard and the materials that form in the boxes.
Hope that helps, if it doesn’t make you feel comfortable then ask some other “experts” what they think, as I mentioned before you get all kinds of answers. So basically it ends up with pretty much whatever you’re comfortable with. Also, check out the Square Foot Gardening Forum for more advice from experts.
Best Wishes,
Mel.
Hello again Mel,
Well, we have taken apart the old pool deck and have used the support beams for the boxes covered in 4mm visqueen. I would like to send some pics like you mentioned back in Feb. How do I do that?