The Best Soil Calculator for Your Raised Bed Garden
And it works with US or Metric systems!

Two raised bed gardens with strawberry seedlings.

It can’t get any easier: use this soil calculator for your raised bed garden to figure out how much soil you need. All you need to do is measure your raised bed garden’s length, width, and depth.

Then, plug those numbers into the calculator to calculate the total amount of soil you need. The calculator displays the results for the volume of soil in US or Metric units. That makes it usable for any gardener in the world.

Since we don’t know how you’ll measure or buy your materials, we show the results in cubic feet/cubic meters and gallons/liters. That should cover the most common measurements.

Mixing soil in a raised bed garden after using a soil calculator for raised bed gardens.
Raised bed gardens make it easier to custom-mix the soil for your crops.

Is It Better to Use Raised Bed Gardens?

One of the many advantages of raised bed gardens is that you can easily mix your own types of soil. This is also possible with earth-bound gardens, but it takes more work.

Gardeners often mix their garden bed soil so it’s 50% topsoil, 30% aged compost, and 20% potting mix. If you plan to use that method, the calculator automatically gives you those quantities for the size of your raised bed garden.

By itself, topsoil (or potting soil) is too dense for plants growing in raised beds or pots. Adding compost and potting mix improves the soil fertility and drainage. In a pinch, you could be successful with 50% topsoil and 50% compost.

You can adjust the 20% potting mix material to include other ingredients like:

  • Coconut coir.
  • Peat moss. Be careful with peat moss. Too much of it will make the soil too acidic for most crops. If you’re growing blueberries, though, they love acidic soil.
  • Earthworm castings.
  • Aged manure.
  • Other organic matter, such as grass clippings, shredded leaves, and wood ash.
  • Organic fertilizer.
  • Perlite or vermiculite for improved drainage.

Would you like to know more about soil for gardens and raised beds? Please refer to the following articles:

We hope this soil calculator for gardens will be a great help for you!

Bob Styer

As a child, I hated gardening. That was mainly because Dad expected us to work in the garden every so often even though we thought play was more important. Over the years, though, I've developed a real appreciation for growing things. Whether you're growing plants for food or to enjoy their beauty, gardening can make your life better. Seize the moment!

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