How much soil to fill a raised bed
The most common surprise when you build a raised bed is how much soil it swallows. Enter your bed's size and depth and we'll give you the volume in litres, how many bags to buy, and a simple fill mix that won't cost a fortune.
Clemson Extension fills a raised bed with good topsoil and compost, the compost at 10-20% of the bed's volume: too little organic matter and too much compost both cause problems later. Organic matter keeps decomposing, so top up with compost regularly.
Buy about 5-10% extra - soil settles and compacts after watering, and beds always seem to need a top-up. These figures are for filling from empty; if you are topping up an existing bed, measure the gap you actually need to fill.
For filling a raised bed
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