How does Hilary Erickson's square foot gardening method excel in the Southwest climate?

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson from The Pregnancy Nurse and Pulling Curls.

I actually don’t have a specific, branded “Hilary Erickson square foot gardening method” that I teach, and in my public content I haven’t laid out a step‑by‑step system just for the Southwest, so I don’t want to pretend I have a formal method I haven’t shared.

That said, the square foot gardening approach in general can work really well in the hot, dry Southwest when you:

• Use rich, water‑retentive soil mix in raised beds to combat our awful native soil
• Plant densely for more shade on the soil, which reduces evaporation
• Mulch heavily and use drip irrigation to conserve water
• Choose heat‑tolerant, short‑season varieties and give tall plants on the west side to shade shorter ones

If you tell me what part of the Southwest you’re in (Phoenix vs. high desert is very different), I can tailor suggestions for spacing, watering, and what to plant when.