Garden How to Lay Out a Planting Bed By Martha Stewart Editors Martha Stewart Editors Facebook Instagram Twitter Website An article attributed to "Martha Stewart Editors" indicates when several writers and editors have contributed to an article over the years. These collaborations allow us to provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive information available.The Martha Stewart team aims to teach and inspire readers daily with tested-until-perfected recipes, creative DIY projects, and elevated home and entertaining ideas. They are experts in their fields who research, create, and test the best ways to help readers design the life they want. The joy is in the doing. Editorial Guidelines Published on January 26, 2012 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Barbara Damrosch of the Four Season Farm offers a step-by-step for laying out a planting bed that will assure neat, tidy rows every time. 01 of 07 Damrosch starts by drawing a wide metal rake over the planting area (in this case, a slightly raised bed in her vegetable garden where she wants to grow lettuce). She removes stones and debris from the top inch or so of the soil, creating a flat surface to trace out her planting grid. 02 of 07 Using the width of the rake as her guide, Damrosch lays out lines of string attached to wooden stakes in the soil as a guide for her rows of seedlings. 03 of 07 She then attaches short pieces of hose or plastic tubing to the metal rake, counting the tines so that the hoses are spaced equally. 04 of 07 These tubes are then dragged lengthwise down the planting bed to create furrows. In this case, she has adjusted her spacing for heads of a second, late-season planting of lettuce. 05 of 07 Starting at one end, she then drags the tubes crosswise across the loose soil surface to create visible planting grid of long and short lines. 06 of 07 The bed is now ready for planting. Mature summer vegetables are in the adjacent beds. 07 of 07 Positioning one seedling at the juncture of each line of the grid results in expertly placed crops until harvest time. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit