Mulch Calculator: Cubic Yards and Bags

Two to three inches is the usual range. Two inches suits an established bed you are topping up, while three inches suppresses weeds and holds moisture better in a new bed. Keep mulch pulled back from stems and trunks to avoid rot.

There are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard. Bulk mulch is sold by the cubic yard, so the calculator converts your cubic feet into cubic yards to help you order loose mulch by the truckload.

It multiplies the bed area, length times width in feet, by the depth converted from inches to feet. A 10 by 10 foot bed at 3 inches is 100 square feet times a quarter of a foot, which is 25 cubic feet.

Bulk is usually cheaper per cubic foot for large jobs and saves handling many bags, while bags are convenient for small beds and easy to store. The calculator shows both bag counts and the cubic yards so you can compare and choose.

Bags most commonly hold 2 or 3 cubic feet, which is why the tool reports both counts. Always check the label on your bag, since sizes vary by brand, material and region.

Mulch is sold by the whole bag, so any partial need rounds up to the next bag. A little extra is useful for topping up thin spots after the mulch settles, so a small overage is rarely wasted.

Break an irregular bed into rectangles, measure each one, run them through the tool separately and add the results. For a rough estimate of a curved bed, use the average length and width of the area.

At 3 inches deep, one cubic yard covers about 108 square feet, since 27 cubic feet spread a quarter of a foot thick fills 108 square feet. At 2 inches it covers about 162 square feet.