Menu

Find a calculator, bed size or guide

How much soil for a 4x12 raised bed?

Filling a 4 × 12 ft raised bed 12 inches deep takes 48 cubic feet of soil: 1.78 cubic yards, or 32 bags of 1.5 cubic feet. Every extra inch of depth adds 4 cubic feet.

4 × 12 ft bed, filled 12 inches deep

48cubic feet at 12 in
1.78cubic yards
32bags of 1.5 ft³
+4ft³ per extra inch

Soil depth, inches

A 4 × 12 ft bed filled 12 inches deep, drawn across its 48-inch width. 12 in of soil 48 in inside width
Open these measurements in the soil calculator

Soil for a 4 × 12 ft bed at each depth

Whole bags are rounded up. The bed’s wall height is not the soil depth: measure the depth you plan to fill.

Bags of
Soil depthCubic feetCubic yardsBags of ¾ ft³Bags of 1 ft³Bags of 1.5 ft³Bags of 2 ft³Bags of 3 ft³
6 in240.89322416128
8 in321.194332221611
10 in401.485440272014
12 in481.786448322416
18 in722.679672483624
24 in963.5612896644832

Measure inside the walls

The table uses the full 4 × 12 ft. If that is the outside size of a wooden bed built from boards 1½ inches thick, the growing space inside is 45 × 141 inches. At 12 inches deep that holds 44.06 cubic feet, 8% less than the table. Metal and composite walls are thinner, but corner posts and braces still take space, so measure between the inner walls before you order.

Inside 45 × 141 inOutside 48 × 144 in · boards 1½ in thick

Beds sold at 4 × 12 ft

These beds in our catalogue are sold at this size. A maker’s stated capacity often differs from the table because the inside is smaller than the advertised size or the maker assumes a different fill depth.

Work out your own bed

Open these measurements in the soil calculator to change the depth, add more beds or split the fill into a mix. To compare the cost of bags with a bulk delivery for 1.78 cubic yards, use the bagged vs bulk soil calculator.

Other bed sizes