This new revision of a classic gardening book has been a gardening and horticulture bestseller on Amazon for quite some time. It has a 4.5 out of 5 star rating and currently retails for around $12 on Amazon, which isn’t too bad.

However, while reviews of Mr. Bartholomew’s square foot garden plan are usually very positive, there are still a fair number of critical reviews, making the general consensus a bit scattered. Therefore, since many of my website visitors are very interested in gardening as efficiently as possible, it seemed reasonable to check out the book “All New Square Foot Gardening” for those who might be considering purchasing it.

Gardening Per Square Foot by Mel Bartholomew

In his YouTube video promoting the book, Mr. Bartholomew introduces his new book and introduces some of the changes between the previous version and this new edition. Frankly, while the “square foot gardening” method is useful, Mr. Bartholomew is not really the “inventor” of the method as he suggests in the video, as many people were using similar methods of gardening long before his first book. . I arrive

So what do I think of the book?

Well, this book appears to be an attempt to “simplify” the square foot gardening approach for less experienced gardeners. The previous book was more detailed and gave more background information. This newer book is less detailed and tries to simplify the explanation of the method for “newbies”.

Either way, both of these books are useful and will definitely help you grow a lot of produce in a very small space compared to more traditional methods. However, before you buy, there are probably a few things to keep in mind:

New soil mix for square foot landscaping

Since the square foot gardening method relies on “raised beds”, you need to fill those beds with some type of growing medium. In the previous book, the recommended square foot landscaping soil mix was more complex than what Mr. Bartholomew currently recommends in the new book, but I’m not sure I’m a firm believer that either soil mix was completely what it should be. searching.

The current recommendation creates soil that can easily become “too hot” for good plant growth, which is not a good thing. Also, one of the three recommended components for mixing this new growing medium can be quite difficult to find. Lastly, many readers have been frustrated by how expensive it can be to create this “perfect floor” for your new square foot garden beds.

In contrast, the previous soil mix recommendations were a somewhat better option, but did not retain moisture very well. For one thing, that “feature” helped prevent overwatering your plants. But it also meant he had to water very often to make sure the plants didn’t dehydrate. I’ll let you decide how big that is more or less.

Large plants may not do well

If you’re going to be growing smaller plants and/or plants that don’t normally “spread” much (like watermelon), square foot landscaping is great. However, for larger plants, you’ll really want to “spread things out” a bit more to allow a bit of breathing room between the plants.

Also, for “spread” plants, using the square foot gardening plan can be a bit tedious, since you have to grow UP instead of OUT. In other words, trellises and the like are likely to be needed for plants/vines to “climb” and plants that produce larger produce (like watermelons) may have trouble with that scenario, unless you choose hybrids that produce fruit/ smaller vegetables.

Despite the drawbacks, gardening per square foot gets 4/5

I think the method is great, and Mel Bartholomew has put a lot of time and effort into helping people implement the method in an efficient and productive way. Having said that, I can’t give any of the books 5 stars simply because I don’t think the recommended soil mixes are your best or cheapest bet.

Learn more about a better soil medium

This square foot gardening review can also be found on my blog, along with a short but VERY helpful section related to how you can create the best possible soil to put in your square foot gardening raised bed design. Using this “mystery growing medium” is the best way to make the most of ANY garden, raised, square foot or otherwise.