Soil calculator for Texas

The classic 4 x 8 raised bed, filled 12 inches deep, holds 32 cubic feet of soil. That's 1.2 cubic yards, and it's the number that surprises first-time bed builders who show up expecting to buy a few bags. This soil calculator runs that math for any bed, planter or yard project, in the three soils we stock. Weight depends on the blend: garden soil is about 2,000 lb per cubic yard, screened topsoil 2,200, fill dirt 2,400. Pick the product you'll actually order and the tons come out right.

Bed math in three lines

1. Measure each bed or planter in feet. The multiple-areas mode keeps a running total across beds.
2. Depth by goal: 4-6 inches to improve existing beds, 6 inches for new in-ground beds, 12 inches for raised planters filled from empty.
3. Cubic feet / 27 = cubic yards. Yards x 1.0 to 1.2 = tons, depending on the soil.

Weights and coverage

Matching the soil to the project

• Vegetable gardens, flower beds, planters: garden soil, already blended with compost and ready to plant.
• Lawns and finish grading: screened topsoil. The Topsoil Calculator has lawn depths and worked examples.
• Grade changes and hole filling: fill dirt underneath, good soil only in the growing layer.
• Tired native soil: till 2-3 inches of garden soil into the top 6 inches instead of replacing the whole bed. Cheaper, and roots take to it faster.

Filling raised beds without overspending

Deep beds don't need expensive blend all the way down. Anything over 18 inches tall can carry a cheaper bottom third (fill dirt, or coarse organic matter that composts in place), with 8-12 inches of garden soil on top where roots feed. Two layers, two quick runs of this calculator. April is raised-bed season on our trucks, and the orders that come back for more are almost always the ones that treated 12 inches as a guess instead of a measurement.

Worked example: three 4 x 8 beds

Ninety-six square feet of bed at 12 inches deep is 96 cubic feet: 3.6 cubic yards, about 3.6 tons of garden soil. Order 4 yards. Blended soil settles roughly 10% in the first weeks as the compost fraction consolidates, and the surplus tops the beds back up after that first slump.

Fixing clay and sand without replacing them

Heavy clay drains slowly; sandy soil drains too fast and starves plants between waterings. Both respond to the same treatment: 2-3 inches of compost-blended garden soil tilled into the top 6 inches, repeated for a couple of seasons. That's a third of the material (and the lifting) of full replacement, and the improvement compounds as roots and worms work the blend deeper. Save full-depth replacement for beds where construction debris or contamination rules the native ground out.

Bulk soil against bags

A cubic yard equals about 36 bags at 40 lb. One raised bed is already a 43-bag project, and nobody enjoys loading 43 bags twice. Bulk gets cheaper per cubic foot, arrives in one tip, and with free delivery there's no truck fee to claw back. Keep bags for topping a single planter. Order the pile onto a tarp; soil stains concrete, and the tarp turns cleanup into a drag-and-fold.

Soil quantities, from beds to bags

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