Soil calculator
Measure once, buy once.
Length, width and depth in centimetres. We add ten per cent for settling and tell you the number of bags and whether a bulk bag is cheaper.
Your planter or bed
Example: a two-metre raised bed
704 litres to buy
640 litres to fill it, plus ten per cent for settling.
- 50 litre bags15 × 50 L£85.50Four for £22 counted in; carried to your car.
- 800 litre bulk bag1 × 800 L£75.00Delivered free within five miles, on hard standing.
- Cheapest1 bulk bag£75.00Saves £10.50 against bags alone.
About the sums
Why ten per cent extra?
Compost settles. A bed filled to the brim drops by about a tenth after the first few waterings, and it costs less to have a little over than to make a second trip.
What about very deep planters?
Over 40cm deep, you can put logs or upside-down turf in the bottom third and save compost. Do not use gravel; it does nothing for drainage. The result shows both figures.
Should I use only compost?
For pots and short-lived planting, yes. For a raised bed with shrubs or vegetables in it for years, half topsoil and half compost holds its level better. Ask and we will mix the order.
Open every day but three, on the hill above Bedwas.
Bring a photograph of the bed or a leaf in a sandwich bag. Free parking for sixty cars, soup in the lean-to and a van for anything that will not fit in yours.