Raised Planting Flower Beds for the Handicapped

Features

• Raised flower beds consist of short retaining walls used to contain the soil necessary to grow vegetable, fruit or flower gardens. The walls should exceed no more than two feet in height to allow wheelchair occupants to easily reach plants within the garden.

Size

• In addition to a maximum height, the length and width dimensions of the raised flower bed should also be considered when constructing a handicapped accessible garden area. To ensure that those who must remain in a wheelchair may reach all parts of the flower garden, raised beds should have widths of no more than two arm lengths across.

Considerations

• To make raised flower gardens more accessible, adequate space should be placed between each unit. The average wheelchair measures approximately two and one-half feet, while those for obese individuals may measure as large as four-feet wide. Leaving a large pathway between individual raised beds allows numerous wheelchair occupants to easily pass one another in the garden.