Mulch calculator: cubic yards and bags for any bed
To find how much mulch you need, multiply the bed area in square feet by the depth in inches and divide by 324. That gives cubic yards. One cubic yard covers about 108 square feet at 3 inches deep. The same math works for soil, compost and gravel.
Mulch needed5.56 cu yd
- Round up and order
- 6 cu yd
- Bags instead
- 75
- Volume
- 150 cu ft
- Material cost
- $211
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The mulch formula
- Cubic feet = area in square feet x depth in inches / 12.
- Cubic yards = cubic feet / 27.
- Bags = cubic feet / bag size, rounded up.
For a round bed, area is 3.14 x radius x radius. For an odd shape, break it into rectangles and add them.
Coverage per cubic yard
| Depth | One cubic yard covers |
|---|---|
| 1 inch | 324 sq ft |
| 2 inches | 162 sq ft |
| 3 inches | 108 sq ft |
| 4 inches | 81 sq ft |
Pricing the install
Material is the small part of a mulch job. Price the delivery, the crew hours to spread it, edging and cleanup, then add margin: the landscaping pricing guide has a worked mulch install. In spring, Alvin can draft mulch proposals for your maintenance customers from last year's quantities and hold them for your approval before anything is sent. See seasonal upsells.
Frequently asked questions
How many bags of mulch are in a cubic yard?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so 13.5 bags of 2 cubic feet or 9 bags of 3 cubic feet.
How deep should mulch be?
Two to three inches is common for beds. Thicker layers can hold too much moisture against stems and trunks, so keep mulch pulled back from the base of plants.
How much area does one cubic yard of mulch cover?
About 108 square feet at 3 inches deep, 162 square feet at 2 inches, or 324 square feet at 1 inch.
The math is the easy part. Alvin does the office work after it.
Alvin is the personal assistant for home services businesses. Your team asks in the app or forwards an email, and Alvin does the work across QuickBooks, your CRM and your suppliers. Anything that spends money or goes to a customer waits for your approval.