How Much Mulch for 300 Square Feet?
Material needed
2.78 cubic yards
300 square feet at 3 inches deep, bark mulch at roughly 800 lb per cubic yard.
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.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Bed area300 sq ft
- Depth3 in
- MaterialMulch
Material needed2.78 cubic yards
| Volume | 75 cu ft |
|---|---|
| Cubic yards | 2.78most yards sell in half yard steps |
| Order in half yards | 3 cu yd |
| 2 cu ft bags, if bagging it | 38 |
| Approximate weight | 2,222 lb (1.11 tons) |
The material list this produces
| Material, cubic yards | 3 |
|---|---|
| Landscape fabric, sq ft | 300 |
| Edging, linear ft | 70 |
Depth compared
Depth is the whole calculation. Two inches will not suppress weeds, six inches will suffocate roots.
| Depth | Material needed | Order in half yards |
|---|---|---|
| 2 in | 1.85 cubic yards | 2 cu yd |
| 3 in | 2.78 cubic yards | 3 cu yd |
| 4 in | 3.7 cubic yards | 4 cu yd |
| 6 in | 5.56 cubic yards | 6 cu yd |
What else matters here
Three yards covers the foundation beds around a typical house front with a little left over. It is the size most homeowners actually buy in spring, and it is one straightforward bulk delivery.
This is also the point where the type of mulch starts to matter financially. Dyed hardwood, natural double ground hardwood, pine bark and cedar can differ by half again per yard, and at three yards that gap is real money rather than a rounding difference.
Dyed mulch holds its color longer and breaks down slower, which sounds like an advantage and is a mixed one. Mulch that does not break down is not feeding the soil, so beds that get dyed mulch every year usually want compost worked in occasionally to make up for it.
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.
Questions people ask
How many yards of mulch for 300 square feet?
About 2.78 cubic yards at 3 inches deep, ordered as 3 yards.
How many bags of mulch for 300 square feet?
Around 38 bags at 2 cubic feet each, which is well past the point where bulk delivery is cheaper.
Is dyed mulch worth the extra?
It keeps its color through a season where natural mulch grays out in a couple of months. It also breaks down slower, so it adds less to the soil, which is a trade rather than a win.
The mulch and gravel calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.