Mulch & Landscaping Calculator
Quickly estimate how much mulch, topsoil, compost, or gravel you need for any garden bed. Pick a shape, enter dimensions and desired depth, and get cubic yards, bag counts, and projected cost. Perfect for landscapers and weekend gardeners alike.
Mulch Volume Calculator
Mulch Needed
Pickup Truck Capacity
Standard full-size pickup bed holds about 2 cubic yards of mulch. Enter total yards needed to see trips required.
Trips
How This Calculator Works
Mulch is sold by volume, so the calculator turns your bed into cubic feet and cubic yards. It finds the bed area first — length × width for a rectangle, π × radius² for a circle (entered as diameter), or ½ × base × height for a triangle. Depth, entered in inches, is divided by 12 to get feet, then area × depth gives cubic feet. A waste factor is applied for uneven ground and settling.
The classic shortcut is the same math: cubic yards = square feet × depth-in-inches ÷ 324, because 324 = 27 cubic feet per yard × 12 inches per foot. Cubic feet is divided by 27 for cubic yards. The tool also converts to bags both ways: a 2-cubic-foot bag (the common size) and a 1-cubic-foot bag, so you can compare bulk delivery against bagged. Cost is cubic yards times your bulk price per yard.
A Worked Example
A 30 ft by 15 ft bed at a 3-inch mulch depth with 5% waste. Area is 30 × 15 = 450 sq ft. Depth 3 in ÷ 12 = 0.25 ft. Volume: 450 × 0.25 = 112.5 cu ft, padded 5% to 118 cu ft, which is 4.37 cubic yards. That is 59 of the 2-cubic-foot bags or 118 of the 1-cubic-foot bags. At a 2026 bulk price near $38/yd delivered, the mulch is about $166 — usually cheaper than buying 59 bags once you are past two or three yards.
Estimator's tip: Measure your beds at the end of the season when they are at their widest, not in early spring before plants fill in — that is the footprint you actually mulch. If you are refreshing color on an existing bed, drop the depth to 2 inches; you are top-dressing, not rebuilding, and 3 inches of fresh over 2 inches of old buries crowns and starves roots of air. Past three yards, take the bulk delivery.
What Affects Your Mulch Volume
- Depth — 2 inches refreshes an existing bed, 3 to 4 inches is a full new install, and that alone can double volume.
- Bed shape and how accurately you measure curved or irregular borders.
- Settling and decomposition, which is why a small waste factor is built in.
- Mulch type: bark, hardwood, and rubber pack and weigh differently per yard.
- Bulk versus bagged — bulk wins on price past a couple of yards but needs somewhere to dump it.
- Slope, where mulch washes and you may apply it deeper to compensate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much mulch do I need?
Multiply bed square footage by depth in inches and divide by 324 for cubic yards. A 200-square-foot bed at 3 inches deep needs about 1.85 cubic yards, or roughly 28 two-cubic-foot bags.
How many bags of mulch in a cubic yard?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it equals about 13.5 bags of the standard 2-cubic-foot size or 27 of the 1-cubic-foot bags. The calculator shows both counts.
How deep should mulch be?
Two inches is enough to top-dress an established bed; 3 to 4 inches is best for new beds and weed suppression. Avoid piling it against trunks or stems where it traps moisture.
Is bulk mulch cheaper than bags?
Past about two or three cubic yards, bulk delivery is usually cheaper per yard than bagged mulch and saves a lot of hauling, as long as you have a spot for the pile and a way to move it.