How Much Soil Does Your Raised Bed Garden Need? (2024)

FAQs

How Much Soil Does Your Raised Bed Garden Need? ›

Simply multiply the length and width of your bed together, then divide that number by 27 (the cubic feet in a cubic yard). This will give you the number of cubic yards of soil you need, assuming an average soil depth of one foot.

This is simply the length times the width of your garden bed. Then, to get the total cubic feet of each raised bed, simply multiply the square feet of your garden's footprint by the height of your raised bed garden. This provides the total cubic feet of garden space that must be filled with soil.

Filling the Raised Garden Beds

For beds six to 12 inches deep, fill completely with soil. For deeper beds, it's sometimes helpful to add other materials to take up space and reduce the overall amount of soil, but it depends on your preference and soil availability.

A 1-foot raised bed is more than enough to accommodate a salad garden box plan. Carrots, radishes and peppers thrive with 12 inches or more. Medium-rooting vegetables like kale, cucumbers, and zucchini love at least 18 inches.

Tomatoes should ideally be grown in a raised bed that's at least 15 to 18 inches deep. Many of my clients in Houston are successfully growing tomatoes in 12-inch deep raised garden beds, but their plants tend to be a little stunted compared to plants in deeper beds.

A 40 pound bag of topsoil usually contains about 0.75 Cubic Feet of soil. There are 25.71404638 Dry Quarts in a Cubic Foot, so a 25 quart bag of potting soil would equal approximately 1 Cubic Foot. If you are filling pots, you will be fine. If you are spreading it on a lawn of any significant size, it will disappear.

To start, lay down sheets of cardboard or newspaper for weed suppression and then fill the raised bed structure halfway up with alternating layers of nitrogen-rich materials (like kitchen scraps and grass clippings) and carbon-rich materials (like wood chips and dried autumn leaves).

Gardening with raised beds can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience, but it's important to avoid common mistakes that can lead to disappointing results. By avoiding overcrowding plants, using high-quality soil, and paying attention to watering and drainage, you can ensure a healthy and productive garden.

I've seen suggestions online to add plastic bottles or trash bags as filler to the bottom of raised beds to save money on soil. This not only defeats the purpose of installing a raised bed in order to give your plants' roots all the growing room they need, it also can negatively impact the drainage of your raised beds.

A: You should avoid putting rocks in the bottom of your garden bed. A common myth is that this will improve drainage. Instead, this can actually increase water saturation levels as well as allow gravel to mix in with your soil, which can prove very difficult to remove later on.

What is the best bottom for a raised garden bed? ›

Newspaper or Cardboard

Even simple, cheap materials can block weed growth from below your garden beds. You can simply lay them on the ground before setting your garden beds on top of them.

Ideally, the beds should be around 24-30 inches tall to allow for comfortable gardening without bending or reaching too much.

A raised bed that is too deep will use more soil and cost more.

A 40 qt bag is 1.3(and some) cu ft. 4'x8'x[height] is the volume of your bed. If you assume the height is 1', your volume is 32 cu ft. Divide by 1.3 per bag, and I think you need 24.6 40qt bags, so 25 bags.

Good potting soil of any type is all you need to grow tomatoes and other vegetables in pots.

In general, determinate tomatoes tend to do better in pots, so look for those. It's also possible to grow indeterminate tomatoes in containers, of course, as long as you provide enough support and soil volume.

The smaller pieces are placed on top of the larger pieces to fill space, such as branches and sticks, and then grass clippings, leaves and kitchen scraps. Compost and topsoil are on the top two layers for your raised garden bed so you can start planting as the organic matter beneath decomposes.

Filling Raised Beds

We fill our beds with half compost and half topsoil. It's economical, the soil gives the plants' roots something to hold onto, and the compost feeds the plants.

A good rule of thumb is to plant 6-8 indeterminate tomato plants in a 3x6 raised bed, giving each plant at least 1.5 to 2 square feet of space. This spacing accommodates their need for support structures like cages or trellises and promotes healthy growth and fruiting.

How many pounds is a cubic foot of soil? A cubic foot of soil weighs between 74 and 110 pounds, depending on the type of soil and how moist it is. Dry, loose dirt weighs about 76 pounds per cubic foot, while moist, loose dirt weighs 78 pounds per cubic foot.