How Much Soil Do I Need For A Raised Bed

The amount of soil you need to purchase to fill your raised bed garden depends on the size and depth of your bed.

How much soil do i need for a raised bed.

To fill a 3x6 bed with 10 sides you will need 15 cubic feet of blended soil. This is the amount of dirt you will need to fill your. The height of your raised garden bed and the plants root depth. Raised bed soil calculator we ve seen far too many raised beds filled with potting mix from the landscape supply company with unhappy plants and unhappy gardeners.

Taking a look at the height of your raised garden a common choice is around 11. The most common depth of raised beds is 11 inches 28 cm because this is the height of two 2 6 inch boards which is commonly used to frame raised beds. Remember that the plants that you are planting will also take up space in the raised bed. Adjust the soil quantity accordingly.

This article will take you through all of the. For example if you have a length of 5 feet a width of 4 feet and a depth of 2 feet the volume would be 40 cubic feet 5 x 4 x 2 40. Some plants are deep rooted while others only require shallow soil to cover their roots. Soil and compost is then filled into the raised beds to a depth just a few inches 7 6 cm below its rim.

For refreshing gardens usually 3 6 inches 76 152 mm of new soil is sufficient. That starts you off needing around a foot of gardening soil. The amount of soil you need depends on two things. 9 cubic feet of topsoil 9 20 quart bags 4 5 cubic feet of compost 4 5 20 quart bags 1 5 cubic feet of soilless potting mix.

Calculating how much soil you need for a raised bed planter box is relatively easy as long as your eyes don t roll when you are asked to do a bit of math. It also keeps soil from washing away protects root systems from harsh temperatures and retains moisture for the plants growing under it not to mention. Landscape supply mixes are often high in salts and high in ph and completely unbalanced in nutrients. If you have a hard border or a raised bed measure the depth of the partition.

For best results incorporate 20 30 soil amendment manure or compost into your mixture your plants will love it. If the thought of doing some math on a calculator makes your head swim and your knees wobbly don t worry. Remember that soil will settle so be a little generous with this measurement. If you are not sure how high to make your raised bed consider what you want to grow.

Cubic feet yards even the number of bags. To create the blend use the following quantities. Framed raised beds are frequently used for vegetable gardening. With a height of 11 your raised garden bed has plenty of room to drain properly.

Use the handy chart below to determine how many bags of miracle gro raised bed soil to purchase. By far the easiest way to calculate quantities is to use the soil calculator above. 1 5 cups gardener s supply granular organic fertilizer. The deeper the raised bed the more soil you will need.