--- title: "Mulch Calculator: Bags, Cubic Yards & m³ | Moss Landings" description: "Work out how much mulch you need for beds, borders and tree rings: cubic yards, cubic feet, m³ and litres, bags by size and a bulk order. Feet or metres." url: https://mosslandings.homes/ --- Beds, borders & tree rings # Mulch calculator Sketch your beds as simple shapes, pick a depth and get the volume, the bags to buy and a bulk order, in feet and inches or metres. ## How to use the mulch calculator 1. **Measure each bed as a shape.** Long borders are rectangles and island beds circles. A ring is the mulch circle round a tree, with a bare centre left round the trunk. Border adds a strip of the width you give all the way round a rectangle, such as a band of bark round a patio. Use Count for identical beds and Subtract for a path or patio inside a bed. Type 12' 6" or 12.5 for twelve and a half feet. 2. **Choose a depth.** If old mulch is still there, enter its depth and only the difference is ordered. The extra allowance covers uneven ground and spillage; leave it at 0 if you measured carefully. 3. **Pick a bag size** to see how many bags to buy, or use the bulk figure: loose mulch is sold by the cubic yard or cubic metre, and the calculator rounds up to the next half. Add prices to compare the two. ### How deep should mulch be? Most guides land between 2 and 4 inches. The RHS asks for at least 5 cm (2 in) of organic mulch and ideally 7.5 cm (3 in). Clemson's Home & Garden Information Center keeps fine mulches to 2–3 inches and lets coarse ones go to 4. The Morton Arboretum suggests 3–4 inches of medium to coarse material under trees and only a couple of inches on perennial beds. Keep mulch off trunks and stems: Clemson says 2–3 inches from woody stems, Iowa State Extension at least 6 inches from tree trunks. ### Worked example A 24 × 5 ft border is 120 sq ft. Two tree rings 6 ft across with a 1 ft bare centre add 2 × 27.5 = 55 sq ft, so 175 sq ft in all. At 3 in (a quarter of a foot) that is 43.7 cu ft, or 1.62 cu yd: 22 bags of 2 cu ft, or 2 cu yd in bulk. ## Sources - The Morton Arboretum, [How to mulch trees and shrubs](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/mulching-trees-and-shrubs/): 3 to 4 inches of medium to coarse mulch, a couple of inches for perennial beds, no mulch piled against trunks. - Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, [HGIC 1604 Mulch](https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/mulch/): fine mulches no more than 2 to 3 inches deep, coarse ones up to 4 inches, kept 2 to 3 inches from the stems of woody plants. - Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, [How deep should the mulch layer be around trees and shrubs?](https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/faq/how-deep-should-mulch-layer-be-around-trees-and-shrubs): 3 to 4 inches of wood chips or shredded bark (2 to 3 inches on heavy soils), at least 6 inches from tree trunks. - Royal Horticultural Society, [Mulches and mulching](https://www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/mulch): biodegradable mulch at least 5 cm (2 in) and ideally 7.5 cm (3 in) thick, not piled against woody stems. ## More calculators for the garden The stone for the path, the soil under the bed and the lawn beside it. - [Gravel & stone calculator](https://mosslandings.homes/gravel-calculator/): Cubic yards, m³ and tons or tonnes for paths, drives and bases, by stone type, layer by layer. - [Topsoil calculator](https://mosslandings.homes/topsoil-calculator/): Soil for new beds, a new lawn, levelling hollows or top-dressing, with an allowance for settling. - [Grass seed & fertiliser](https://mosslandings.homes/grass-seed-fertilizer-calculator/): Seed by grass type for a new lawn or overseeding, and fertiliser from the N-P-K on the bag. - [Sod & turf calculator](https://mosslandings.homes/sod-calculator/): Rolls, slabs and pallets for a new lawn, by piece size, with a waste allowance. ## Recommended Two free tools for the online side of a garden project. Temporary email · no sign-up ### CleanTempMail Garden centres and landscape yards often ask for an email address before they send a delivery quote, a loyalty coupon or a planting guide. CleanTempMail gives you a free disposable inbox at once, with no sign-up, a random or custom address on hundreds of domains, and mail deleted automatically after 3 days. Your own inbox stays clear of the spring sale emails. [Get a temporary inbox](https://cleantempmail.com/) Disposable cloud browser · domain lookups ### WebTraceCheck Found bulk mulch or stone cheaper from a supplier you have never heard of? WebTraceCheck's free DNS and domain lookup shows the records behind a site's domain, and its disposable cloud browser opens unfamiliar links on an isolated desktop that is deleted after each session. Nothing to install, with free time every day. [Try WebTraceCheck](https://webtracecheck.com/) ## Mulch questions **How many bags of mulch are in a cubic yard?** A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it fills 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft or 9 bags of 3 cu ft. It is also about 765 litres, a little over fifteen 50 L bags. **How much area does a cubic yard of mulch cover?** At 2 in deep a cubic yard covers 162 sq ft, at 3 in 108 sq ft and at 4 in 81 sq ft. In metric, a cubic metre covers 20 m² at 5 cm, 13.3 m² at 7.5 cm and 10 m² at 10 cm. **Do I need to remove old mulch first?** No. Enter the depth of the old layer under Old mulch already there and the calculator orders only the difference up to your target depth. Break up a crusted or matted layer with a rake before you top it up. **How far should mulch stay from a tree trunk?** Keep it clear of the bark. Iowa State Extension advises at least 6 inches between mulch and a tree trunk, and Clemson 2 to 3 inches round the stems of shrubs. Measure the tree with the Ring shape and use that bare circle as the inner diameter. **Is mulch cheaper in bags or in bulk?** It depends on local prices and the delivery charge. Bulk mulch is sold by the cubic yard or cubic metre and usually delivered; bags need no delivery and let you buy exactly what you need. Enter the three prices under Compare bag and bulk prices to see both totals for your beds.