Bed Marker for Garlic

Lamb Abbey Orchards · July 2, 2009

A few years back I decided to plant a couple acres of garlic to see how it would grow here in Maine. I knew the process of planting each clove by hand would be a bit tedious and I wanted to come up with some kind of a device that would enable me to mark the tops of raised beds in a 6" x 8" grid, so the garlic could be planted in perfect rows with little fuss.

I decided to modify a lawn roller--the kind you see at golf courses--with a series of metal cones welded to the surface that could be rolled down a raised bed. I also had the sides cut off of it so the roller was a hollow cylinder. I lucked out making this thing, because the circumference of the roller I modified was a multiple of 8", allowing for a continuous 6" x 8" grid.

The bed marker works beautifully. Here are a couple pics:

Raised beds made first:

Roller then gets rolled across the length of the raised bed:

Perfect 6" x 8" grid marking the location of the cloves is the result:

Cloves are then planted into each hole easily, require no measuring and little effort:

If you're considering planting a large block of garlic, I highly recommend having someone make one of these for you.

John

July 2, 2009	#1
Lamb Abbey Orchards Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Union, Maine / Coastal Zone 5 Posts: 44	Bed Marker for Garlic A few years back I decided to plant a couple acres of garlic to see how it would grow here in Maine. I knew the process of planting each clove by hand would be a bit tedious and I wanted to come up with some kind of a device that would enable me to mark the tops of raised beds in a 6" x 8" grid, so the garlic could be planted in perfect rows with little fuss. I decided to modify a lawn roller--the kind you see at golf courses--with a series of metal cones welded to the surface that could be rolled down a raised bed. I also had the sides cut off of it so the roller was a hollow cylinder. I lucked out making this thing, because the circumference of the roller I modified was a multiple of 8", allowing for a continuous 6" x 8" grid. The bed marker works beautifully. Here are a couple pics: Raised beds made first: Roller then gets rolled across the length of the raised bed: Perfect 6" x 8" grid marking the location of the cloves is the result: Cloves are then planted into each hole easily, require no measuring and little effort: If you're considering planting a large block of garlic, I highly recommend having someone make one of these for you. John