How much soil for a 4x12 raised bed? Bags and cubic yards

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 depth	Cubic feet	Cubic yards	Bags of ¾ ft³	Bags of 1 ft³	Bags of 1.5 ft³	Bags of 2 ft³	Bags of 3 ft³
6 in	24	0.89	32	24	16	12	8
8 in	32	1.19	43	32	22	16	11
10 in	40	1.48	54	40	27	20	14
12 in	48	1.78	64	48	32	24	16
18 in	72	2.67	96	72	48	36	24
24 in	96	3.56	128	96	64	48	32

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.

Beds sold at 4 × 12 ft

These are the beds we list in 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.

What to plant in a 4 × 12 ft bed

Four planting layouts drawn to scaleA 4 × 12 ft bed holds 48 heads of lettuce, 768 carrots or 6 trellised tomatoes at Colorado State University Extension’s spacings. See a salad bed, tomatoes and peppers, and roots and onions with every plant counted.

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

4 ft wide