Soil Volume Calculator
Estimate how much soil you need for raised beds, garden borders, planting areas, and landscaping projects. Enter the area and soil depth to calculate volume in cubic meters, cubic feet, cubic yards, and liters, plus an optional bag estimate.
Calculate the amount of soil
Choose the bed shape, enter your measurements, and set the desired soil depth.
How to calculate soil volume
For a level rectangular bed, multiply its length by its width to find the area, then multiply the area by the desired soil depth.
Soil volume = area × depth
Required volume with allowance = soil volume × (1 + allowance percentage ÷ 100)
For a circular bed, area is calculated using π × radius². For multiple identical rectangular beds, the area of one bed is multiplied by the number of beds before calculating the volume.
Example calculation
A rectangular garden bed that is 5 m long and 3 m wide has an area of 15 m². At a soil depth of 15 cm (0.15 m), it needs 2.25 m³ of soil before any extra allowance. With a 10% allowance, the estimate becomes 2.475 m³, or 2,475 liters.
Which depth should you use?
Choose a depth appropriate for your project. Filling a raised bed, topping up a lawn, preparing a planting border, and replacing soil in a landscape area can require different depths. If the ground is uneven, measure several locations and use a reasonable average depth.
Understanding the results
- Cubic meters: commonly used for bulk soil deliveries.
- Cubic yards: useful where landscaping suppliers quote soil by the yard.
- Liters and bags: useful for estimating packaged soil purchases.
- Extra allowance: provides a margin for minor unevenness and settling; it is not a guarantee of the final settled depth.