How Much Mulch for 750 Square Feet?
Material needed
6.94 cubic yards
750 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 area750 sq ft
- Depth3 in
- MaterialMulch
Material needed6.94 cubic yards
| Volume | 187.5 cu ft |
|---|---|
| Cubic yards | 6.94most yards sell in half yard steps |
| Order in half yards | 7 cu yd |
| 2 cu ft bags, if bagging it | 94 |
| Approximate weight | 5,556 lb (2.78 tons) |
The material list this produces
| Material, cubic yards | 7 |
|---|---|
| Landscape fabric, sq ft | 750 |
| Edging, linear ft | 110 |
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 | 4.63 cubic yards | 5 cu yd |
| 3 in | 6.94 cubic yards | 7 cu yd |
| 4 in | 9.26 cubic yards | 9.5 cu yd |
| 6 in | 13.89 cubic yards | 14 cu yd |
What else matters here
Seven yards. The arithmetic worth doing at this size is cost per square foot rather than cost per yard, because that is the number that compares one depth against another and one material against another.
At three inches, seven yards covers 750 square feet. At two inches the same seven yards covers well over a thousand, and the saving is real, but two inches does not block light and the weeds come through by midsummer. The cheaper job is the one that gets done twice.
Landscape fabric is the other thing usually proposed as a saving here. Under gravel it earns its place. Under bark it does not, because the mulch breaks down into a layer of soil on top of the fabric, weeds root in that, and now there is a sheet of plastic in the way of everything you want to plant.
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 750 square feet?
About 6.94 cubic yards at 3 inches deep, ordered as 7.
Can I use 2 inches of mulch instead of 3 to save money?
You can, and it will not suppress weeds. Two inches lets enough light through that you will be weeding by midsummer and mulching again sooner.
Should I put landscape fabric under mulch?
Under gravel, yes. Under bark, generally not. The bark rots down into soil on top of the fabric, weeds grow in that layer, and the fabric gets in the way of planting.
The mulch and gravel calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.