Garden Tools

Raised Bed Soil Calculator

Enter your bed's dimensions and get exactly how much soil to buy — in cubic feet, cubic yards, and bags — before you're standing at the garden center guessing.

Add as many beds as you're filling · Pairs with the Fungicide Finder

Total Soil Needed 0 cu ft
Cubic Yards
0 yd³
Bags Needed

A Few Notes Before You Buy

Fill to the top, not the brim. Soil settles 10–15% in the first season as it breaks in, so filling exactly to the top edge of the bed means you'll be topping it off again by midsummer. This calculator gives you the volume to fill the bed completely — buy a little extra if you want it to still look full after settling.

Bagged vs. bulk is a math problem, not a preference. Once you're past roughly 1 cubic yard (27 cubic feet), bulk delivery is almost always cheaper per cubic foot than bags, even with a delivery fee — most local nurseries and landscape suppliers sell soil by the yard for exactly this reason.

Don't fill a deep bed with 100% soil. For beds deeper than about 12 inches, many growers fill the bottom third with logs, branches, or coarse organic material (the "hugelkultur" approach) before topping with soil — it cuts the amount of soil you need and improves drainage as the material breaks down over time.