Garden Soil Calculator
Calculate how much soil is needed to fill a garden bed from its length, width, and desired soil depth.
ft
ft
in
Results
Soil Needed
26.7 cu ft
Cubic Yards
0.99 cu yd
Estimated 1.5 cu ft Bags
18
How to Use the Garden Soil Calculator
Enter your garden bed's length and width in feet, plus the depth of soil you want to add in inches, to find how much soil you need. The calculator converts depth from inches to feet so all three dimensions multiply together into a volume in cubic feet, then also converts that to cubic yards and an estimated number of standard 1.5 cubic foot bags.
Cubic Feet = Length × Width × (Depth in Inches / 12)
Cubic Yards = Cubic Feet / 27
Bags Needed = ceil(Cubic Feet / 1.5)
Cubic Yards = Cubic Feet / 27
Bags Needed = ceil(Cubic Feet / 1.5)
Example
A 10 ft × 4 ft raised bed filled 8 inches deep needs 10 × 4 × (8 / 12) = 26.67 cubic feet of soil, which is about 0.99 cubic yards, or 18 standard 1.5 cubic foot bags (rounding up from 17.8).
Common Use Cases
- Estimating how much bagged or bulk garden soil to buy for a new raised bed.
- Budgeting soil quantity and cost before starting a vegetable or flower garden.
- Comparing bagged soil versus bulk delivery for larger garden projects.
FAQs
- Should I buy bagged soil or bulk soil? For small volumes (typically under 1-2 cubic yards), bagged soil is usually more convenient. For larger beds or multiple beds, bulk soil delivered by the cubic yard is often significantly cheaper per cubic foot.
- How deep should garden soil be for vegetables? Most vegetables do well with 8-12 inches of quality soil, though root vegetables like carrots benefit from deeper, looser soil, while shallow-rooted crops like lettuce can work with less.
- Does this account for soil settling over time? No — this calculates the volume needed to fill the bed at your chosen depth right now. Soil naturally settles and compacts over the following weeks, so many gardeners add 10-15% extra or plan to top off the bed later.