How Much Soil for a 4x4 Raised Bed?
Material needed
0.49 cubic yards
A 4 by 4 bed filled to 10 inches, topsoil at roughly 2,200 lb per cubic yard.
When the figures look right, the landscape material list downloads as a real PDF with your business details on it, built inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Bed area16 sq ft
- Depth10 in
- MaterialTopsoil
Material needed0.49 cubic yards
| Volume | 13.3 cu ft |
|---|---|
| Cubic yards | 0.49most yards sell in half yard steps |
| Order in half yards | 0.5 cu yd |
| 2 cu ft bags, if bagging it | 7 |
| Approximate weight | 1,086 lb (0.54 tons) |
The material list this produces
| Material, cubic yards | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Landscape fabric, sq ft | 16 |
| Edging, linear ft | 16 |
Fill depth compared
Here is the same bed at other depths.
| Fill depth | Material needed | Order in half yards |
|---|---|---|
| 6 in | 0.3 cubic yards | 0.5 cu yd |
| 8 in | 0.4 cubic yards | 0.5 cu yd |
| 10 in | 0.49 cubic yards | 0.5 cu yd |
| 12 in | 0.59 cubic yards | 1 cu yd |
What this calculator assumes
- Three inches is the usual mulch depth. Two is thin and will not hold weeds down, four starts to smother shallow roots and holds water against trunks.
- Weights are approximate and vary with moisture: mulch about 800 lb per cubic yard, topsoil 2200, gravel 2800, sand 2700.
- Bagged material is sold in 2 cubic foot bags, and there are 13.5 of those in a cubic yard.
Questions people ask
How many bags of soil for a 4x4 raised bed?
About 7 bags at 2 cubic feet each for a 10 inch fill, which is 13.3 cubic feet or roughly half a cubic yard.
The mulch and gravel calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.
Other common sizes
7 more sizes are answered on the mulch and gravel calculator page