I agree that you need to build them spaced the distance that works best for you. Having had raised beds spaced close together - you know the challenges that spacing causes. We love our spacing - because we spaced them for our needs. our beds are 4'x16' - 12" high (we have 6 of them) and we spaced them 4' apart. I like to kneel on the grass to work in the beds and 4' gives me plenty of room to do that. As important - 4' spacing is enough room for our zero-turn lawn mower to cut the grass. Many gardeners don't like grass between the beds - but I love it. It is clean - pleasant to look at - and easy to maintain. I prefer grass over gravel or concrete/pavers - but that is just our preference. I do not have a problem with the grass growing up in the raised bed but I also weed-eat around them regularly. We placed the 4x4 support posts inside the bed for clean lines on the outside of the bed. We also placed a 2x6 seat board on top of the 4x4's and edge of the bed - we love that feature!

I can see I need to take some photos of our raised beds during the summer that show better how they look now with grass instead of dirt & snow - but these photos should give you an idea of what we have done. They may be of help to you in deciding the best option for your needs.

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This post was edited by Hudson...WY on Thu, Feb 6, 14 at 2:31