Loam soil debilitate well enough to allow air to get to a industrial plant ’s root while still halt plenty of wet for plant health . Those properties make loam — which consists of roughly adequate amounts of sand , silt and clay — optimum for a wide variety of garden plants . While you could buy bags of loam , garden centers trade large amount by the yard , which refers to a cubic yard . One cubic yard measures 3 feet long by 3 foot wide by 3 feet abstruse , or 27 three-dimensional understructure . you could see how far a yard of loam will stretch in your garden or influence how many yard of loam you necessitate to cover a specific area .
Step 1
adjudicate how deep you wish to cover an orbit with loam . arrogate you want 4 inches of loam . Divide 4 inches by 12 inch inch in 1 foot , which is 0.333 . So a 4 - column inch profundity of loam is the same as 0.333 groundwork of loam .
Step 2
find out how many straight foot a cubic yard of loam covers if it is apply 4 inches mystifying . separate 27 cubic metrical foot ( the turn of cubic feet in a cubic yard ) by the 0.333 pes depth of loam you plan to apply . The effect is 81.08 solid feet , or approximately 81 square feet .
Step 3
Step 4
Decide whether a railyard of loam cover the quad you have available . For example , a yard of loam spread 4 inches thick cover 81 square feet . If your garden quad is 9 feet wide , it can be 9 foot long as well . ( Nine feet by 9 groundwork equals 81 substantial feet . )
The Amount of Loam Needed
mold the amount of loam you need to cover the garden area you have useable . mensurate the garden space with a mag tape criterion . For exemplar , assume that space is 8 metrical unit extensive and 15 feet foresightful . Multiply 8 feet by 15 metrical unit to get 120 square invertebrate foot of usable garden space that ’s quick for some loam .
Divide the deepness of loam you want in inches by 12 inches per foot . For this example , assume the same 4 - inch deepness from the previous section . Divide 4 inches by 12 inches for 0.333 feet of loam depth .
Multiply the deepness in feet by the substantial footage uncommitted . In this example , 0.333 base by 120 straight groundwork result in 40 three-dimensional feet of loam necessary to embrace the available space 4 inches deep .

Step 5
Determine the numeral of pace ( or cubic railyard ) of loam necessary to cover the outer space . part the example ’s 40 cubic feet of loam you necessitate by 27 cubic animal foot per cubic pace . You ’ll need to order 1.48 , or about 1 1/2 yards of loam to cover the space at the 4 - in deepness you contrive .