UCANR

Building a Raised Bed

  • April 27, 2026
  • By Joelle Kohn
A garden with four wooden raised garden beds filled with lush green vegetables and flowers, bordered by a chain-link fence and a building.
Credit: MGASDC

Why Raised Beds?

  • Drainage
  • Portability
  • Pest Control
  • Accessibility
  • Avoid soil compaction
  • Ownership of bed is defined

 

Three wooden raised garden beds filled with plants sit on a deck, with a dog resting on the deck in front of the smallest bed. Tree trunks and lawn is in the background.
Height and size options
 Credit: NOH 

Accessibility - Raised Beds

  • Optimum bed height should be 24 inches
  • Keep the beds narrow
    • 24 inches from the edge of the path to center of bed should be the maximum reach distance
  • Length of the beds may be any convenient size
  • Pathways should be 5 feet wide
A person in a wheelchair reaches towards a raised garden bed filled with lush green plants. The garden is in a dry, arid landscape with cacti and desert vegetation in the background. The ground appears to be compacted decomposed granite.
Narrow bed, wide path
Credit: Stephen Cantu

 

Bed Materials

  • Redwood or cedar
  • Galvanized stock tank
  • Cinderblocks, bricks
  • Rocks, boulders
  • Composite decking material
  • Do not use railroad ties

 

 

Wooden raised garden beds with PVC pipe frames and netting covers. One cover is open by a hinge on the long edge of the garden bed. The three beds contain various green plants and vegetables.
Enclosed beds
Credit: MGASDC

Enclosed beds for protection from predators or sun

  • Hinged lids with screening
  • Hinged lids with shadecloth
  • Corner posts or arches for removable screening
  • Corner posts or arches for removable shadecloth

 

 

Two raised garden beds at waist height the size and look of a single school desk, that protrude out into the garden path and sit on two legs. They have lush green plants and a trellis system in the background. A green hose is visible beneath the beds.
Space to sit and garden at raised beds
Credit: Gina Sferrazza

Variety of shapes

  • Geometrical (hexagonal, octagonal)
  • C-shaped for access
  • T-shaped for access
  • Shaped for a seated person

 

 

Path Materials

A group of children sits in rows in a garden next to raised garden beds, listening to an instructor who stands and gestures. The beds are built with cinder blocks and the garden paths show small-sized bark paths.
Bark paths
Credit: Stephen Cantu
  • Mulch
  • Bark or wood chips (small pieces)
  • Straw
  • DG (decomposed granite)
    with or without pea gravel
Source URL: https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardener-program-san-diego-county/article/building-raised-bed