SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
Length of the bed.
Inside the bed, not around the outside of its edging — a 2 m sleeper bed with 100 mm sleepers holds 1.8 m of soil, and ordering on the outside dimension buys about a tenth too much on a small bed. Measure along the longer side at soil level rather than at the top of the boards, because most beds taper slightly.
Width of the bed.
Inside face to inside face, across the shorter direction. For a bed you can reach into from one side only, a practical width is about 600 to 750 mm; from both sides, up to 1.2 m. That is not what this calculates, but it is worth checking before you order soil for a bed whose middle you cannot reach.
Depth of growing medium.
200 mm suits salad and herbs; 300 mm most vegetables; 450 mm or more for root crops and anything perennial. Deeper beds dry out more slowly, which matters more than the extra root room for most plants.
Extra to order because loose medium settles.
A freshly filled bed drops noticeably after the first heavy watering. Twenty percent is the usual allowance; compost-rich blends settle more than mineral topsoil.
Soil required
1.741 yd³
Geometry plus a settlement allowance. Weight assumes a moist topsoil blend at about 1000 kg/m³ (62 pcf).
- Finished volume
- 1.45 yd³
- Litres
- 1,330.89 L
- Cubic yards
- 1.74 yd³
- 60 L bags
- 23 bags
- Approximate weight
- 2,934.11 lb
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Garden Soil Calculator: 1.74 yd³ — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Loose topsoil and compost blends settle 15-25% after watering and initial consolidation — horticultural supplier guidance
- Typical bulk density of screened topsoil 1300 kg/m³; compost blends 550-900 kg/m³
Inputs used
- Bed length
- 10 ft
- Bed width
- 4 ft
- Fill depth
- 11.75 in
- Settlement allowance (%)
- 20
Intermediate steps
- Finished volume
- 1.45 yd³
- Litres
- 1,330.89 L
- Cubic yards
- 1.74 yd³
- 60 L bags
- 23 bags
- Approximate weight
- 2,934.11 lb
Confidence note: Geometry plus a settlement allowance. Weight assumes a moist topsoil blend at about 1000 kg/m³ (62 pcf).
What this calculation does not cover
- The settlement allowance is added to the finished volume rather than divided out of it, so a 20% entry buys 1.2 times the bed's measured capacity and not the 1.25 times needed to still sit level with the rim once the medium has consolidated — expect the surface to finish a few percent low, and order at the top of the range where flush matters.
- Nothing in the inputs describes what is being bought, so the weight row applies one density to every medium: the two figures this page cites for bulk density span 550 to 1300 kg/m³ (34 to 81 pcf), which is enough to put a tonne-priced load or a weight-limited vehicle out by a third in either direction.
- Depth is treated as new material from top to bottom, with nothing deducted for the soil already in the bed or for plants and rootballs standing in it, so a top-up should be entered as the thickness of fresh medium rather than the bed's full height.
- Length and width are the space being filled rather than the outside of a frame — measuring across the boards adds two thicknesses on each axis — and a single depth is multiplied over the whole footprint, so a mound with sloping sides, or ground that falls away beneath the bed, holds less than the box these three numbers describe.
- The headline is a raw volume, not a purchase quantity: bulk bags and tipper loads are sold in fixed sizes and only the 60 litre (2 ft³) bag row is rounded up, so round the bulk volume yourself to whatever increment the yard actually delivers in.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-05 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations2
- Loose topsoil and compost blends settle 15-25% after watering and initial consolidation — horticultural supplier guidance
- Typical bulk density of screened topsoil 1300 kg/m³; compost blends 550-900 kg/m³
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