Home & garden
Practical ideas for the house and the plot around it — vertical planting and climbers, storage and furniture that earns its space, and the everyday upgrades worth making.
Room gets little natural light A plant sited by a north-facing wall or deep in an interior room is working with whatever light bounces off adjacent surfaces, not with direct sun. If…
The "3-hour rule" is a rule of thumb, not a botanical standard: size the garden — its bed area, plant count, and…
Build or buy: why the cost differs Buying a kit costs more per square foot of growing space than building from lumber,…
Native soil is compacted, poorly drained, or contaminated The reason to raise a bed at all is almost always a soil problem,…
It may include removal of old grass cover and planting of new grass seeds, bushes and tree seedlings. Also the landscaping of…
Free tool · runs in your browser
Enter the length, width and depth of a raised bed or planter and it tells you how much soil or compost to buy — in litres, cubic metres and standard bags, with a bit extra for settling.
Open the calculatorWhat you’ll get
Suggestions & corrections
We are always after practical, tested ideas for the house and garden. If something here could be clearer, or you have a fix worth sharing, tell the editors.
