How Much Soil for a 6x12 Raised Bed?
Material needed
2.22 cubic yards
A 6 by 12 bed filled to 10 inches, topsoil at roughly 2,200 lb per cubic yard.
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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 area72 sq ft
- Depth10 in
- MaterialTopsoil
Material needed2.22 cubic yards
| Volume | 60 cu ft |
|---|---|
| Cubic yards | 2.22most yards sell in half yard steps |
| Order in half yards | 2.5 cu yd |
| 2 cu ft bags, if bagging it | 30 |
| Approximate weight | 4,889 lb (2.44 tons) |
The material list this produces
| Material, cubic yards | 2.5 |
|---|---|
| Landscape fabric, sq ft | 72 |
| Edging, linear ft | 34 |
Fill depth compared
Most kit beds are 10 or 12 inches tall and get filled an inch below the rim. Here is the same bed at each of the usual depths.
| Fill depth | Material needed | Order in half yards |
|---|---|---|
| 6 in | 1.33 cubic yards | 1.5 cu yd |
| 8 in | 1.78 cubic yards | 2 cu yd |
| 10 in | 2.22 cubic yards | 2.5 cu yd |
| 12 in | 2.67 cubic yards | 3 cu yd |
What else matters here
Two and a half yards of soil weighs close to two and a half tons. Order it as a bulk delivery and have the driver put it where you want it, because moving that by barrow is around thirty loads and most of a day.
Six feet wide is worth thinking about before the boards go together. You cannot reach the middle of a six foot bed from either side, so either it sits where you can walk around all four sides, or it gets a stepping stone down the center, or you accept compacting the middle every season.
Buy the fill as a mix rather than as topsoil. At this volume the price difference between screened topsoil and a garden blend is small next to the cost of digging out a compacted bed in two years and starting again.
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 much soil for a 6x12 raised bed?
About 2.5 cubic yards at a 10 inch fill, which is 60 cubic feet or roughly 30 bags at 2 cubic feet each.
How much does that soil weigh?
Close to 4,900 pounds for damp topsoil, so around two and a half tons. That is a bulk delivery, not a pickup load.
Is 6 feet too wide for a raised bed?
For a bed against a wall, yes, because you cannot reach the back. Freestanding with access from both sides it is workable, though four feet is easier to tend.
The mulch and gravel calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.