Work out exactly how much soil, compost or mulch to buy for a garden bed. Pick the bed shape, enter its size and the depth you want, and the calculator gives the volume in litres, cubic metres, cubic feet and cubic yards — plus how many bags that is.
You need about
litres
cubic metres
cubic feet
cubic yards
50 L bags
2 cu ft bags
Bag counts are rounded up. Buy ~10% extra for settling — loose soil and mulch compact after watering. Typical depths: mulch 5–8 cm (2–3″), topsoil dressing 2–3 cm (1″), new beds 20–30 cm (8–12″).
How much depth do I need?
- Mulch top-up: 5–8 cm (2–3 inches) suppresses weeds and holds moisture.
- Topsoil dressing a lawn: 1–2 cm (about half an inch) per pass.
- New raised bed: 20–30 cm (8–12 inches) of soil-and-compost mix.
- Planting containers: match the pot depth, minus room for the root ball.
Loose material settles once watered, so buying roughly 10% extra saves a second trip to the garden centre.