How Much Soil Do I Need For A Raised Bed

If the thought of doing some math on a calculator makes your head swim and your knees wobbly don t worry.

How much soil do i need for a raised bed.

Remember that the plants that you are planting will also take up space in the raised bed. Some plants are deep rooted while others only require shallow soil to cover their roots. With a height of 11 your raised garden bed has plenty of room to drain properly. 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.

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. When you add a layer of mulch to your flower bed or other natural area it instantly creates a barrier that makes it hard for weeds to find their way in blocking sunlight and heeding growth. 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. 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.

By far the easiest way to calculate quantities is to use the soil calculator above. For refreshing gardens usually 3 6 inches 76 152 mm of new soil is sufficient. Taking a look at the height of your raised garden a common choice is around 11. 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.

Landscape supply mixes are often high in salts and high in ph and completely unbalanced in nutrients. 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 soil will settle so be a little generous with this measurement. That starts you off needing around a foot of gardening soil.

If you have a hard border or a raised bed measure the depth of the partition. Cubic feet yards even the number of bags. To create the blend use the following quantities. Use the handy chart below to determine how many bags of miracle gro raised bed soil to purchase.

Framed raised beds are frequently used for vegetable gardening. The deeper the raised bed the more soil you will need. Enter your measurements hit calculate and it s all worked out for you. The soil quantities shown are approximate.

To fill a 3x6 bed with 10 sides you will need 15 cubic feet of blended soil. For best results incorporate 20 30 soil amendment manure or compost into your mixture your plants will love it. If you are not sure how high to make your raised bed consider what you want to grow. The amount of soil you need depends on two things.

This is the amount of dirt you will need to fill your. Adjust the soil quantity accordingly. 1 5 cups gardener s supply granular organic fertilizer. This article will take you through all of the.