Mulch calculator
Cubic yards and bags of mulch for a bed, from its size and depth.
Mulch to order
0 cubic yards
How it works
cubic feet = bed area x depth in inches / 12 cubic yards = cubic feet / 27 bags = cubic feet / bag size, rounded up
Bulk mulch is sold by the cubic yard and bagged mulch by the cubic foot, mostly 2 cubic feet a bag. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it takes 13.5 bags of 2 cubic feet to make one yard.
What one cubic yard covers
| Depth | One cubic yard | One 2 cu ft bag |
|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 324 sq ft | 24 sq ft |
| 2 in | 162 sq ft | 12 sq ft |
| 3 in | 108 sq ft | 8 sq ft |
| 4 in | 81 sq ft | 6 sq ft |
Two to three inches is the usual depth for beds. Three inches keeps most weeds down. Keep mulch a few inches back from tree trunks and plant stems, where piled mulch holds water against the bark.
Questions
- How deep should mulch be?
- Two to three inches in most beds. Three inches does more to stop weeds, and more than four starts to keep water from reaching the soil.
- How many bags of mulch make a cubic yard?
- 13.5 bags of 2 cubic feet, 9 bags of 3 cubic feet or 18 bags of 1.5 cubic feet.
- How much does a cubic yard of mulch cover?
- 108 square feet at 3 inches deep, 162 at 2 inches and 324 at 1 inch.
- I'm topping up old mulch. What depth do I enter?
- Only the depth you are adding. Measure what is already there and enter the difference to reach the depth you want.
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