[Sapphire]

Hi Sorry i'm being a bit dim today can you please give me an idea I have 10 rasied beds 6ftx4ft depth 8in how much soil mixture would i need to fill 10 please.
Thank you

[DD.]

Ooooo mathematics time!

I make it 160 cubic feet = just over 4.5 cubic meters, or just under 6 cubic yards.

Google tells me that top soil weighs between 70 to 100 lbs a cubic foot, so taking the top figure, that 's 16,000 lbs or 7.3 tonnes.

I think.

[WirralWally]

My calculations:

Each bed:- 6 x 4 x 0.66 = 15.44 cu ft
X 10 beds = 155 cu ft total

Soil (approx) 78 lbs per cu ft
78 lbs x 155 = 12090 lbs

12090lbs = 5.5 tonnes

Quite a bit to barrow and shovel 

[Sapphire]

Thank you very much

Maria
Happy gardening

[DD.]

My calculations:

Each bed:- 6 x 4 x 0.66 = 15.44 cu ft
X 10 beds = 155 cu ft total

Soil (approx) 78 lbs per cu ft
78 lbs x 155 = 12090 lbs

12090lbs = 5.5 tonnes

Quite a bit to barrow and shovel 

Whilst not wildly out, Wally, 6 x 4 x 2/3 is exactly 16, multiplied by 10 = 160.

[Dan78]

thats a LOT of soil!! 

[DD.]

I've just remembered why I don't do raised beds!

[mumofstig]

Buuuuuut, if you are making raised beds ontop of soil, you will not need that much, if any. The initial digging will raise the soil level a bit, and each year as you add your compost, used compost from pots and tubs and manure this will continue to raise the soil levels. You can also add to the beds soil raked from the top of your paths, before you put down wood chip bark or whatever.
If you start off with them full, they will soon be overflowing

[Ice]

Buuuuuut, if you are making raised beds ontop of soil, you will not need that much, if any. The initial digging will raise the soil level a bit, and each year as you add your compost, used compost from pots and tubs and manure this will continue to raise the soil levels. You can also add to the beds soil raked from the top of your paths, before you put down wood chip bark or whatever.
If you start off with them full, they will soon be overflowing

I was just about to post a reply something like this but mumofstig beat me to it.   

[Jay The Digger]

Buuuuuut, if you are making raised beds ontop of soil, you will not need that much, if any. The initial digging will raise the soil level a bit, and each year as you add your compost, used compost from pots and tubs and manure this will continue to raise the soil levels. You can also add to the beds soil raked from the top of your paths, before you put down wood chip bark or whatever.
If you start off with them full, they will soon be overflowing

I agree.  When I installed mine, I took off 6 inches of topsoil all around as this is where you put a path anyway, and piled this in.  Each year I add a mix of 50/50 rotted compost, and left over grow bag peat, to one raised bed.  As they are never walked on, it doesn't compact down as quickly as open soil and stays nicely topped up.

(NB:  Adding recycled growbag peat is a good way of adding volume, but it adds little in the way of nutrients.  It is also important to factor in rotation.  If you have been growing tomatoes in them the previous year, you don't want to grow potatoes in it the next.  I have 5 raised beds and rotate my crops through them each year with the recycled growbags mixed in when my root crops come out.)