We buy the wire mesh called 'hardware cloth,' lay it on the ground and then build our beds on top of it. I can't imagine that you would have a gopher problem long as the inner edges of the cement blocks are a couple of inches over the edge of the mesh.

Good luck,
Jan

another way is to build the bed and then put in the wire and cut each corner so that the wire goes up the wall alittle.
However I have discovered a hungry gopher will willing climb a wall and go down from the top.

Penny

Measure your area for the bed and decide how to most economically cover that area with hardware cloth. HC comes in 2, 3, 4, 5 foot widths. You probably want HC with 1/4 inch squares. Or 1/2 inch. You can join pieces of HC with wire. I would think just putting the cinder blocks over the ends of the HC would be okay. To avoid damage to your hands from cut HC, you can bend an inch of the end over on itself to make a smooth edge. A 2x4 or other piece of straight wood sometimes helps with bending. Otherwise, any cut ends may snag you but good.

Thanks for all the great suggestions.
Will start builidng after the rain(yippee!!)lets up...
JeanneArt

How tall are you making your raised beds? Can gophers climb walls ?or better yet do they have cat like reflexes where they can jump 9× their height?