Line the bottom of a raised garden bed with hardware cloth or cardboard to block weeds and pests, then leave it open to native soil or add a drainage layer of gravel if waterlogging is a concern.
The right bottom treatment depends on what the raised bed is sitting on. For Yardenaler galvanized steel raised beds, the open-base design already handles drainage by letting water move directly into the ground below — no sealed floor means no water accumulation and no root-rot risk. On hard surfaces like patios, a 2–3 inch gravel layer at the base improves drainage before the growing medium goes in. Hardware cloth (½-inch mesh) is the most effective pest barrier when ground contact with burrowing animals is a concern.
- Yardenaler galvanized raised beds use an open-base design — no bottom panel, drainage flows directly to ground.
- Hardware cloth mesh size for pest exclusion: ½-inch openings, laid flat across the full base footprint.
- Cardboard lining (single layer) suppresses weeds for approximately one growing season before it biodegrades.
- Gravel drainage layer on hard surfaces: 2–3 inches recommended before adding growing medium.
- Yardenaler solid fir wood elevated beds include a liner; their 2 ft leg height means no ground-contact base layer is needed.