This muffin-tin hack is the secret to perfectly placed plants

The layout of your plants makes a difference to your overall garden design, but how can you get it right? One green-thumbed enthusiast has found the answer – and it may be hiding in your kitchen.

The appliance in question is a humble muffin-tin – a kitchen staple that will elevate your garden design ideas to new heights. The hack comes courtesy of gardener Katie Bridget (Witless Bay, Newfoundland, Canada) who discovered the trick on the Backyard Vegetable Farmers group on Facebook. 

Here’s what you need to know – before you raid your baking cupboard. 

Muffin-tin garden hack 

In her post, Katie explained that she planted 66 onion bulbs after creating an imprint in the ground with her muffin-tin. According to the gardener, the rows were perfectly spaced apart, meaning her onions will grow straight – and look seamless in the process. ‘[I] definitely will be doing this for my carrots,’ Katie adds. 

The photo above shows how the gardener used her muffin tin as a guideline for her planting space, but she was not alone in her admiration for this kitchen garden idea. To date, the hack has gathered over 415k shares – and many users have given it a try in their own garden (and with equal success). 

‘[I’ve] already got my muffin pans out by the door ready to go,’ one gardener shared. ‘Wish I’d seen this before yesterday… I planted a raised garden bed of onion sets… by guesswork. This is such a neat way of doing it,’ said another. 

Some users have also taken this backyard idea another step further by experimenting with mini-muffin tins that are also effective – but allow you to plant more in your patch. Whilst another gardener said that he uses a similar method with the large egg cartons you get at the Canadian food retailer Sobeys. 

Will you be trying the muffin (or mini muffin) tin hack? Before planting, it is also important to remember to check how much room each plant will need to grow. It’s also a good idea to remind yourself of our vegetable planting calendar that highlights the best time to plant each seed. 

Happy planting (and happy baking) one and all.