 <p>I think there is no chance. You need to add them one by one. <code>frame.add(...); frame.add(...);</code><br> I don't clearly understand what you want as result, but using <code>GridLayout(3, 3)</code> with only 2 panels is the same as use <code>GridLayout(0, 2)</code>.<br> P.S. Check out GridBagLayout - it can be more useful for you.</p>