Mulch calculator for Texas
Yards or bags for every bed in the yard, plus the depth guidance that keeps plants happy.
Enter your project dimensions
A cubic yard of mulch is 27 cubic feet, which makes it exactly 13.5 of the 2-cubic-foot bags stacked at the garden center. That one conversion is most of what this page exists for. Enter your bed sizes and depth below and you'll get cubic yards for a bulk order plus the bag equivalent, so you can put real numbers against the store run. Mulch is light, around 600 lb per yard for shredded hardwood, so it's sold by volume and delivery is about bulk, never weight.
Working out mulch for your beds
- Measure each bed in feet and add them up. Round beds: measure the diameter and let the circle mode do the area.
- Choose 2 inches for a refresh over old mulch, 3 inches for new or bare beds. Past 4 inches roots start to suffocate.
- Read the result two ways: cubic yards for bulk, bags at 13.5 per yard for the store comparison.
Bags (2 cu ft) = cubic yards × 13.5
Coverage chart
| Depth | 1 cubic yard covers | 10 bags (2 cu ft) cover |
|---|---|---|
| 1 inch | 324 sq ft | 240 sq ft |
| 2 inches | 162 sq ft | 120 sq ft |
| 3 inches | 108 sq ft | 80 sq ft |
| 4 inches | 81 sq ft | 60 sq ft |
Typical orders
| Project | Typical size | Depth | Cubic yards | ≈ Bags |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation beds along the house | 40 x 3 ft | 3" | 1.1 yd³ | 15 bags |
| Four tree rings | 4 ft across each | 3" | 0.5 yd³ | 6 bags |
| All beds, average yard | ≈ 500 sq ft | 3" | 4.6 yd³ | 63 bags |
| Annual refresh of the same beds | ≈ 500 sq ft | 1.5" | 2.3 yd³ | 31 bags |
| Playground surface | 15 x 15 ft | 6" | 4.2 yd³ | 56 bags |
Bulk or bags: where the money goes
Ten bags is the crossover point. Below it, bags are convenient. Above it, bulk wins on price nearly everywhere, and free delivery removes the truck-rental argument entirely. Every spring we deliver yards to people who hauled 15 bags home the weekend before and did the math in the parking lot. One yard delivered, one tarp over the leftovers, done.
Depth rules that protect plants
- 2 inches on top of last year's layer, once you've raked it loose.
- 3 inches on bare soil. That's the depth that blocks weed germination and holds moisture through July.
- Around trees, keep a bare ring 3–6 inches out from the trunk. Mulch piled against bark rots it and invites rodents. Flat donut, never volcano.
- 4 inches maximum anywhere. Wet, deep mulch starves roots of air.
- 6 inches minimum for playground surfacing, and use a playground-certified chip there rather than landscape shred.
Choosing a type
Shredded hardwood, the product this calculator defaults to, knits together and stays on light slopes. Chips and nuggets last a season or two longer but float in a downpour and scatter. Dyed mulch holds color at the cost of slower breakdown. The volume math is identical for all of them, so the order quantity doesn't change with the type; only the look and the refresh cycle do.
Delivery day
Three yards of mulch is a pile about the size of a small car, so clear a parking-spot's worth of driveway and have it tipped onto a tarp (shredded mulch stains fresh concrete). Spread within a week or two. A big pile left a month heats up inside and sours. Figure 30–45 minutes of wheelbarrow work per yard and keep the last half-yard for the beds you always forget behind the garage.
The mulch math people ask us about
How many bags of mulch are in a cubic yard?
How many cubic feet are in a yard of mulch?
How much mulch do I need?
How much does a yard of mulch cover?
How much does a yard of mulch weigh?
How much is a yard of mulch?
Does mulch attract termites?
Can I put new mulch over old?
Related calculators
Skip the 27-bag cart.
Bulk shredded hardwood by the yard, tipped in your driveway, delivery free.