TOOL_02 · Landscape mulch
Mulch calculator
Bags or bulk — depth-aware, bed-size presets, and the skid-steer scoop math nobody else shows you.
① Your beds
Bags (3 cu ft)
0bags
25 bags if buying 2 cu ft
Bulk delivery
0.0cu yd
4 skid-steer scoops (½ yd each)
Material Cost Estimator
Estimated Total for Mulch Bags
$76.50
17 units × $4.50 per 3 cu ft bag
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How the math works
Volume: area × depth. One inch of depth over 1 sq ft is 1/12 cu ft. Total cubic feet ÷ 27 = cubic yards. Bags: divide by 2 or 3 depending on bag size, always rounding up.
Scoops: bulk deliveries are often priced per "scoop" — a skid-steer bucket load, roughly ½ cubic yard. The result card converts your yards to scoops so you can order like the locals do.
Pro move: order 5–10% extra bulk mulch. It settles within weeks, and a thin top-up next season is much easier than a full re-mulch.
Common questions
How deep should mulch be?
3 inches is the sweet spot for most beds: enough to suppress weeds and hold moisture without smothering roots. Use 2 inches for beds with shallow-rooted plants like azaleas and rhododendrons. Never pile mulch against tree trunks or stems — that invites rot and pests ('volcano mulching' kills trees slowly).
How much area does a bag of mulch cover?
A 3 cu ft bag covers about 12 sq ft at 3 inches deep, or 18 sq ft at 2 inches. A 2 cu ft bag covers about 8 sq ft at 3 inches. Bulk mulch is sold by the cubic yard (27 cu ft) — one yard covers about 108 sq ft at 3 inches deep.
Is bulk mulch cheaper than bags?
Almost always, and the reason is packaging. One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so a single yard is 9 bags of 3 cu ft — or about 14 bags of 2 cu ft. At 3 cubic yards you are looking at 27 bags to load, unload, and spread by hand, which is where bulk starts winning on handling as much as on material. The calculator returns the cubic-yard figure and both bag counts from the same area, so you can put the pallet and the truckload side by side before you commit.
How many bags of mulch do I need for 200 square feet?
At 3 inches deep, 200 sq ft needs about 50 cubic feet of mulch — that's 17 bags of 3 cu ft, 25 bags of 2 cu ft, or roughly 2 cubic yards bulk.
Estimates are for planning purposes. Actual coverage varies by mulch type, moisture, and how uneven your beds are.