Permanent Raised Bed Gardening: Planting Techniques for Raised Bed Gardens

Crosschecking rows with a rolling marker equipped with crosswires

An opened eye screw is used to lock the cross wire into place.

When equipped with crosswires, the rolling row marker can be used to mark planting locations in the rows. Mounting two crosswires opposite each other on the forward edges of the wheels enables the rolling marker to crosscheck each row every 12 inches. The straight pieces of No. 10 galvanized wire are attached to the wheels by means of eye screws. "Opened" eye screws inserted into the outer surface of one of the outside wheels are used to lock in the crosswires, which can be removed simply by pushing the bent ends out from under the screws and sliding them free.

To ensure straight rows, keep the rolling marker centered on the bed. Try using the bed borders as a visual guide. If the borders are straight, your rows will be straight.

An assembled and ready to use plant locator

If you are a neatness freak, you will want to space plants uniformly in the rows. Marking planting sites with a measuring tape is fine in small gardens, but can quickly become a chore in larger ones. To make this job quick and easy, consider constructing a plant locator.

A plant locator consists of four pieces of 1-inch by 2-inch treated lath and a few nuts and bolts. Our plant locator is calibrated for plant spacings of 12, 18 and 24 inches. It works well on both unmulched and plastic mulched beds. Once you have used this tool, you will never consider using a measuring tape again. The legs of the locator accurately mark planting sites when the device is walked down a row.

Cross member of a plant locator calibrated for 12-, 18- and 24-inch spacings

"Walking" a plant locator down a row to mark planting sites

A plant locator makes easy work of marking planting sites on plastic mulch.