Specifications

While every design should be tailored to the people who will use the garden, the following minimum specifications may serve as useful guidelines:

Path/gate width: 1m 20 cm minimum for wheelchair access, but include turning circles and increased space at junctions.

Strongly contrasting colours: for instance, marking path junctions with bright yellow paint, can help orientation for some people with certain sight loss conditions.

Textured path surfaces: may be useful to mark a corner or crossroads for people with no vision e.g. a square of ribbed concrete or paving slabs with bumps on them. For more advice on designing accessible spaces, see Links.

Raised beds: 75-90cm height should be comfortable for most people, but adapt this if building for children.

Make sure beds are not too wide, so that plants closer to the centre can be reached from the sides.

'Table top' beds: allow knee space underneath so that wheelchair gardeners don’t need to work from a twisting lateral position. They may be built from many different materials. One approach is to build pillars of bricks at the four corners (also in the centre if building a longer bed) then construct a wooden trough on top at least 30 cm deep, lined with strong polythene. This can be filled with soil and planted with salad crops or any shallow-rooted plants. The top of the trough should be at 75-90 cm maximum height.