Prepare the planting bed. You should plan to plant the lettuce a week after the last spring frost. Choose an area with soil that drains well and gets plenty of sun. Use a soil tiller or a spade to break up the soil and remove rocks, sticks and roots from the area. Till in compost or fertilizer about a week before you plan to plant the seedlings.
Lettuce is hardy, but there are certain conditions that won't allow it to grow properly. Make sure the soil isn't too soggy, and that it has plenty of nitrogen.
Make sure the soil is humus rich as well. Talk to someone at your local nursery to discuss ways to enrich the soil in your particular region to make it excellent for growing lettuce