Mulch, Gravel, Topsoil and Sand Calculator
Area times depth gives cubic feet, divided by 27 gives cubic yards. It also gives the weight, which is what decides whether the material arrives on your trailer or on theirs.
When the figures look right, the landscape material list downloads as a real PDF with your business details on it, built inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.
Worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with and the answer it gives. Change anything above and every number below moves with it.
- Bed area600 sq ft
- Depth3 in
- MaterialMulch
Material needed5.56 cubic yards
| Volume | 150 cu ft |
|---|---|
| Cubic yards | 5.56most yards sell in half yard steps |
| Order in half yards | 6 cu yd |
| 2 cu ft bags, if bagging it | 75 |
| Approximate weight | 4,444 lb (2.22 tons) |
The material list this produces
| Material, cubic yards | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landscape fabric, sq ft | 600 |
| Edging, linear ft | 98 |
What this calculator assumes
- Three inches is the usual mulch depth. Two is thin and will not hold weeds down, four starts to smother shallow roots and holds water against trunks.
- Weights are approximate and vary with moisture: mulch about 800 lb per cubic yard, topsoil 2200, gravel 2800, sand 2700.
- Bagged material is sold in 2 cubic foot bags, and there are 13.5 of those in a cubic yard.
Three inches, and the reason for it
Three inches of mulch is the working depth. Two lets light through and the weeds come back inside a season, which is the complaint you get called about. Four and above holds too much water against stems and trunks and starts to suffocate shallow roots.
Mulch volcanoes piled against a trunk are the single most common landscaping mistake in America. Keep mulch a few inches clear of any trunk and the tree lives longer than the warranty.
Weight decides the delivery
A cubic yard of dry bark mulch is roughly 800 pounds. Topsoil is around 2,200, gravel 2,800, and wet mulch can be half again its dry weight after rain.
A half ton pickup will carry a yard of mulch and should not be asked to carry a yard of gravel. Three yards of gravel is over four tons, which is a tandem load and a delivery fee, and it is cheaper than a new set of leaf springs.
Bags or bulk
There are 13.5 two cubic foot bags in a cubic yard. At typical retail prices, bulk is roughly half the cost per yard before delivery, and delivery usually pays for itself somewhere around three yards.
Bags win on small beds, on sites with no truck access, and when the customer wants the driveway kept clean. Bulk wins on everything else.
Questions people ask
How many bags of mulch in a cubic yard?
13.5 bags of 2 cubic feet, since a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.
How much does a yard of mulch weigh?
Roughly 800 pounds. Topsoil is about 2,200 pounds a yard and gravel about 2,800. Those are the approximate weights this calculator uses, and they vary with moisture.
Landscaping estimate template and Landscaping invoice template, free, no signup, PDF Word and Excel.
Common sizes, worked out
The same calculator with the numbers already filled in, one page per size, each ending in its own material list.
More sizes, answered
Each row is this calculator run with those numbers when the page was built. Type the same numbers in above to see every line of the working.
| Example | What it assumes | Material needed |
|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft bed | 100 square feet at 3 inches deep, bark mulch at roughly 800 lb per cubic yard. | 0.93 cubic yards |
| Flower bed | A foundation bed, 4 feet deep and 25 feet long, mulched 3 inches deep. | 0.93 cubic yards |
| 250 sq ft bed | 250 square feet at 3 inches deep, bark mulch at roughly 800 lb per cubic yard. | 2.31 cubic yards |
| 300 sq ft bed | 300 square feet at 3 inches deep, bark mulch at roughly 800 lb per cubic yard. | 2.78 cubic yards |
| 400 sq ft bed | 400 square feet at 3 inches deep, bark mulch at roughly 800 lb per cubic yard. | 3.7 cubic yards |
| 750 sq ft bed | 750 square feet at 3 inches deep, bark mulch at roughly 800 lb per cubic yard. | 6.94 cubic yards |
| 900 sq ft bed | 900 square feet at 3 inches deep, bark mulch at roughly 800 lb per cubic yard. | 8.33 cubic yards |