I ended up going with thick string. It was just too expensive to buy the wooden slats after all the money I had already put into it. If I had built nice cedar beds I think I would spend the extra on the wooden grids. But since I'm not even sure I'll like gardening I went cheap. I pounded a few nails at 1ft intervals and wound the string back and forth across each side to form squares. In a few years if I'm still gardening I will upgrade :) . Of course, according the the book I don't have an official sfg now since I used string LOL.

I have a recycled plastic bed frame, I didn't want to put holes into it and I was also feeling a little broke by this time also, so I used garden pins and string. I have to straighten it ever once in a while and it will have to be replaced next year for sure. It works and once things fill in you don't see it.

I used fishing net line. I pick it up from an industrial supplier and it is $13 for a roll that lasts me a long time. I think it is 100 meters in a roll.

I have some of this for supports in another garden area that has been outside for 3 years and still as strong as can be.

I just used Roofing Nails( till I ran out :) ) to hold it.

So far I am happy with this but need a few years to be sure!

I just used twine and bamboo sticks stuck in the soil to tie it on. I was going as cheap as possible this year since it's my very first year gardening and I wasn't sure how it would work out, so I didn't want to spend a ton. The twine is working very well, my only problem is my boys like to pull up the sticks holding it down lol, so next year I'll be putting in something they can't remove so easily.

Yardsticks. My beds are 3ft deep so I have yardsticks that were $1 from the fabric store, thin coat of leftover deck sealer, and screwed them down. However expect to get odd looks when buying out all the yardsticks at once. (I'm a teacher and had on the school shirt, so they assumed for the class).
Hubby also had the boys at his work make me some grid planks... 1 ft square scraps of cabnetry wood, drilled with 1, 4, 9, 16 holes at the proper spacings, with the kids we put the planks down, stick a pick-up-stick in each hole, lift the plank, and the kids can use the sticks to show them where to put the seeds.

I used natural garen twine, and secured it with those galvinized staples that I pounded into the tops of my beds. That way the kids don't poke themselves on whatever secures the string in place.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!

i will be using twine. and use a staple gun to staple the twine down. they have different kinds of cheap ones at walmart. when i run out, i will get me some yarn. :') ~Medo

I used eyelet hook thingies LOL and twine!!!

Garden twine and push pins. Sometimes I stray from sfg just a little bit and use my finger or the rake handle, but I'm a very good judge of distances, LOL!

Annie's Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

The wooden slats described in the book are 44cents at Home Depot so about $3 for one 4x4 bed.

I use 1/2" wide plastic strapping tape stapled into the top frame of my boxes. It's yellow so it's easy to see, it's very sturdy (I found that twine always decomposed before the end of the season) and it's reusable so it's environmentally PC. Staples usually carries it in the packing section.

String, deck screws. (Actually, for the first SFG bed that I made, I'd used the slats as described in The Book. But then I thought, why be anal, and then degraded to string.)

I'm a weenie, I just guesstimate. I know this kind of thing makes Bartholomew nuts, but hey, he hasn't visited my house since I started anyway.

carolynp, I agree! I don't think he'll be coming to my house to check out my garden soil, either! But, hey...I do use his spacing guides (but sometimes they end up looking like rows...)

To stay ON TOPIC (ahem), there is no way my zucchini and crookneck squash can grow in less than a 4'x4' square, so that's two beds that need no grids. Next year I'm actually going to grow them off to the side of the beds on their own area, 'cause they are overtaking my pathways.

Annie's Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Mine had to be "pretty" so I used 4Â bamboo sticks held in a grid by floral wire.

Photopilot,
Where did you find the 44 cent slats at Home Depot. I went to Home Depot, Lowes, Gibsons, and a couple of hardware stores and could only find expensive trim. I ended up using a heavy string and staples. It has worked since the spring, but I would like a wood frame.

There's redwood slats at HD in the garden dept, should be near the RR ties and the pre-made redwood lattice.

i drilled small holes through the sides of my tin bed to string twine through. If i'm still sfging when it rots i'll replace it with fishing line.

We don't have Home Depot here in the UK, and couldn't find any wooden slats for anything less than £2 (about 4 of your good dollars)! I also have a six foot long bed, so more of a problem. In the end, I had to use large staples which I hammered into the top of my bed every 30 inches, and then threaded binding twine (in bright blue) between them.

Seems to look OK, and works alright. Although is starting to get a bit loose now, so my squares are getting a tad distorted :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: My SFG Blog

This is my first year in Square Foot Gardening. I research all aslpects of materials for creating the grid on the upper surface of my boxes. My boxes, contrary to most, are very large (8' W X 15' L X 1' Deep).

Home Depot caries a 1 X 2 X 8 wooden trim piece (pressure treated using the new method, which contains no arsenic. Their price for the trim piece is $1.09 each

Lowes Home Improvement caries a green colored Twine, called Blue Hawk 1/16-in x 90-ft Twisted Jute Rope. Their Item #: 349247. Their price is $1.38 per spool.

Being new to the Square Foot Gardening concept, I will test the waters this year with both products, in separte boxes, to see what works best. Either way, it appears to be relatively inexpensive either way. I do agree with many, this is a great concept, but the costs associated with the initial build is expensive.

Looking forward to learning as much as I can from the forum discussions.