Garden Bed Soil Calculator — Soil for In-Ground Beds
For in-ground beds where you are adding a layer of soil on top of existing ground, enter the bed area (in square feet) and the depth of soil you want to add. The calculator returns the volume in cubic feet and cubic yards.
What this calculator determines
It calculates the volume of soil to add as a layer on top of an in-ground bed, from the bed area and the depth of soil you want to add.
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Examples
100 sq ft, add 6 in
100 sq ft × 6 in
Calculation
- Depth: 6 ÷ 12 = 0.5 ft
- Volume: 100 × 0.5 = 50 cu ft
- Cubic yards: 50 ÷ 27 = 1.85
50 cu ft (1.85 cu yd)
Assumptions & Conventions
- Added soil only
- Measures only the new soil layer you are adding on top of existing ground, not existing soil or amendments already present.
- Depth convention
- Depth is entered in inches and converted to feet; volume = area × depth in feet.
- Unit conversions
- 1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet; 1 cubic foot = 28.3168 liters.