At the start of the growing season, these are 2 questions I get most:

1) How big should my garden be / how many plants should I grow?

The answer to that is in this post right here, where I help you figure out how much you need to plant for a year's worth of food.

And 2) How far apart should I space my plants?

It might seem simple at first because you can just look on any seed packet and find out what the spacing requirements are for a plant.

But most seed packets give you spacing in rows for plants grown in the ground. I'd guess that most of us attempt to grow in neat, orderly rows in our beds, but the reality is that sometimes we forget to thin our seedlings so they end up growing thisclose together, way far apart, or zig-zaggy down the line.

And what if you grow in raised beds? Are those spacing requirements really gonna give you the most bang for the buck?

Truth is, you can often space your plants much closer than what your seed packets tell you. And knowing how to use every inch of your garden bed will help you with question #1 above so you know how many beds you need to prepare for the season.

This isn't square-foot gardening, by the way. It's known as biointensive planting. Not only does it produce more food than the average garden, it uses the plants themselves to shade and protect the soil, suppress weeds, and lean on each other for support.

Seasonal Tips

The Ideal Soil Mix for a Raised Bed Read more

An Easier Way to Grow Asparagus: Raised Bed Planting Read more

The Simple Trick to Protect Tomatoes From Frost (Without Frost Cloth) Read more

The Secret to Germinating Pepper Seeds Faster Read more

A Simple Guide to LED Grow Lights for Seed Starting Read more

7 Easy Fixes for Leggy Seedlings: How to Help Your Plants Grow Stronger Read more

Biointensive planting is one of the lazy methods I practice in real life, and one that I also teach in my online course called—fittingly—Lazy Gardening Academy.

Along with diagrams, you'll get the full printable chart to refer to year after year. (It's a great addition to the Ultimate Garden Diary if you're putting together a complete reference guide and journal for your own garden.)

🌿 Don't forget my special offer to celebrate the first week of spring: Enroll in Lazy Gardening Academy by Friday, March 27 (paid in full) and get complimentary access to my 1-on-1 virtual garden coaching! (A $200 value.)

P.S. You can grow your plants much closer than you think. Here's how I use intensive plant spacing in my raised bed garden.​

P.P.S. Get complimentary access to my 1-on-1 virtual garden coaching (a $200 value) when you sign up for Lazy Gardening Academy by this Friday, March 27.