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Box Garden vs. Grunge Garden: A Tale of Two Growing Styles

Box gardening is growing in popularity, so I tried it this season. After reading up, my husband and I took the plunge. But we still longed for our good old "grunge garden" out back. We ended up with two garden types—here's our end-of-season report.

The Old Way: Grunge Gardening

For years, James and I did what we thought every good gardener should: till ground, sift lumps, plant seeds. Year after year. Sometimes overdid it (planting too much) to weariness. By mid-August, we'd give up—weeds won, garden became grungy.

Discovering Square Foot Gardening

Friend posted Square Foot Garden box pictures on Facebook two years ago. Stunned at beauty: healthy plants, rich weed-less soil, smooth box lines. Most impressive: boxes on her deck—no far travel to tend garden! We got Mel Bartholomew's All New Square Foot Gardening and read cover to cover.

Principle: Rather than spend fortune/time amending ground soil, start with new bagged soil—YOU control ingredients, weeds, and box placement (anywhere with enough sunlight). Wow.

Our First Year: Learning by Doing

Recipe called for peat moss, vermiculite, blended compost (bagged or homemade). Sphagnum peat easy, but no vermiculite or blended compost locally. Substituted bagged garden soil mixed with bagged humus (our compost not ready). Soil dark with large chunks—used anyway.

We're substitution maniacs, die-hard DIYers. Box frames 4'×4' with old gapped plywood bottoms, set on old green outdoor carpet ("Astroturf"). Approximated box design and filling—no longer official Square Foot Garden, on our own.

First year yielded little but something: kept strawberry plants alive in one box, got a few squash and bush beans from other two.

Beginner's Box Garden

Second-year Box Garden

Tomatoes in Box

Strawberry Box

(Nephew asked where to get "cat seeds" for his garden.)

Second Year: Improvements

Knew what we did wrong, so planted tomatoes and yellow summer squash in two boxes off kitchen doorstep. Bought vermiculite in 8-quart bags—huge difference in soil lightness/looseness. Commercial bagged soil very wet, but huge gaps in plywood floors provided excellent drainage. Had to watch for drying—boxes thirstier than ground. Watered more frequently. Added 9-12-12 tomato/vegetable granular fertilizer around roots at planting.

Weeds? Virtually none! Occasional spindly weed, very infrequent.

Added small wooden boxes from defunct grocery store: one with soil mix (including pine bark mulch) to rescue pot-bound spearmint (opening photo). Planted four o'clock seeds at mint box foot in smaller box. Box garden complete.

Lessons for Year Three

Tomatoes

Get tall, thick, heavy. Need taller boxes (ours 6") or serious staking. As tomatoes grew, I staked with heavier sticks, creating network of wood with tomatoes tied various ways. Still leaned, cracked, begged for more support.

Squash

Few plants eventually fill 4'×4' box, even starting small. After three months confined, sprawled out of box.

Strawberries

Thrive in boxes if not dry. Need eagle-eye watching—dry rapidly. Lay hose on soil surface, trickle hour or so. Runners sent out, rooted through green plastic carpet. Still figuring that out—may let them go in astro-turf.

The Grunge Garden Returns

Old habits die hard. Missed our grungy garden behind house, wanted to plant there too.

Made two rows bush beans out back. Found pole bean seeds, planted (never tried before). Set tomato plants in third row. Three squash plants. Everything got initial side dressing with same 9-12-12 fertilizer.

One June morning, ambitious (and losing patience with husband who promised to till), hand-turned 12'×3' strip with shovel, planted Catalpa tree seeds on outer edge. Wanted Catalpa forever—wouldn't lose window. Just finished patting soil on seeds, soft rain began—took as blessing.

Had Dwarf Poinciana trees in pots (experiment), set in garden near bush beans. Figured they'd benefit from sprinkler when vegetables watered. Hope to protect over winter.

Fun caring for grunge garden. Grungy = dirty, unkempt, bit grassy. Just how I like it. Especially barefoot.

Update: Both Gardens

Blanched pounds of green bush beans all summer—freezer full in quart bags. Late summer into fall, bush beans still making new flowers like June. One pole bean, like Jack and the Beanstalk, wants to go up and up—making nice beans, no sign of stopping.

Picked more vine-ripened, plump, juicy tomatoes than I could use from both gardens. Still going strong until frost—will stew and roast.

Plenty of yellow squash from both, both still producing new blooms as season turns. Husband likes steamed, especially batter-fried.

Watching strawberry box—baby runners REALLY want to live rooted in plastic...

Mint trimmed back after flowering, still making leaves for iced tea.

Four o'clocks big and strong, may yet bloom—another story about fall flowers 'til cold weather.

Little Catalpa trees sturdy and tough, should transplant successfully this fall.

Little Poincianas astounded with growth (happy out of plastic pots), not so little but may need serious zone 7 winter protection.

Tell husband they're like tropical mimosas with red flowers. Will get exercise digging yard spots for all little trees. It's all good.

If you'd like to experiment with garden boxes, sky's the limit! Many ways to garden in containers/boxes with various soil recipes. Try Self-contained Box Gardens Discussion Forum for great ideas to start or improve. Great thing: if you miss traditional garden "out back," you can have both! While box gardening is here to stay, I loved my grunge garden and will plant both types again!

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