Reference
Mulch coverage and weight
Mulch is sold by volume and spread by depth, so how far it goes is plain arithmetic: a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, and every inch of depth uses a twelfth of a cubic foot per square foot. What it weighs depends on the wood and, far more, on the rain.
How much does a yard of mulch cover? 108 square feet at 3 inches, 162 at 2 and 324 at 1. A 2 cu ft bag covers 8 square feet at 3 inches, and 13.5 of them make a yard.
How much does a yard of mulch cover?
Coverage is the 27 cubic feet in a yard divided by the depth in feet. Halve the depth and the same yard goes twice as far — which is why the depth you choose matters more than the product.
| Depth | One yard covers | Square metres |
|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 324 sq ft | 30.1 m² |
| 2 in | 162 sq ft | 15.1 m² |
| 3 in | 108 sq ft | 10.0 m² |
| 4 in | 81 sq ft | 7.5 m² |
How much does a bag of mulch cover?
The same arithmetic for the two bag sizes on the shelf.
| Depth | 2 cu ft bag | 3 cu ft bag |
|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 24 sq ft | 36 sq ft |
| 2 in | 12 sq ft | 18 sq ft |
| 3 in | 8 sq ft | 12 sq ft |
| 4 in | 6 sq ft | 9 sq ft |
How many bags of mulch in a yard
13.5 bags of 2 cu ft or 9 bags of 3 cu ft make one cubic yard. Rubber mulch comes in smaller 0.8 cu ft bags, about 34 to the yard. Past a couple of yards, a bulk delivery is usually cheaper than the bags — and far less plastic.
How much does a bag of mulch weigh?
Dry, not much — mulch is mostly air. Wet, a good deal more: bark soaks up water, and a yard of it after rain can weigh nearly twice what the same yard weighs dry. Rubber does not absorb water, so its weight barely moves.
| Mulch | Bag, dry | Yard, dry | Yard, wet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bark mulch | 25 lb (2 cu ft) · 11.3 kg | 338 lb · 153 kg | 650 lb · 295 kg |
| Shredded hardwood mulch | 30 lb (2 cu ft) · 13.6 kg | 405 lb · 184 kg | 900 lb · 408 kg |
| Rubber mulch | 20 lb (0.8 cu ft) · 9.1 kg | 675 lb · 306 kg | about the same |
Pine straw is sold by the bale, not the bag: one standard bale covers about 40 square feet at 3 inches.
How deep should mulch be?
2 to 3 inches in planting beds — enough to hold moisture and shade out weeds, not so much that roots are starved of air. 3 to 4 inches on paths, where nothing is growing underneath. Rubber mulch under play equipment is a safety surface rather than a garden layer and goes much deeper, around 6 inches.
Mulch breaks down, so beds are topped up rather than redone: measure what is left and add only the difference. Keep it pulled back a few inches from stems and trunks — mulch piled against bark holds moisture where it causes rot.
The mulch calculator takes the bed, subtracts the layer already there and gives the bags, yards or bales.
Work out your beds →Figures: Stone densities: Renovimo gravel calculator figures, unchanged. Topsoil and fill dirt: Ottr Landscape Supply, How much does a yard of dirt weigh (ottrsupply.com); Centex Excavation, How much does a yard of dirt weigh (centexexcavation.com); Select Site Group, How much does a yard of topsoil weigh (selectsg.com). Compost: City of Columbus Compost Facility, How much Com-Til do I need (1,000 lb per cubic yard); Sustainability in Practice, Compost formulas (900 lb per cubic yard). Bark and hardwood mulch: dry weights from retail listings of 2 cu ft bags (Jolly Gardener, Garick, Green Thumb), scaled to the cubic yard; wet weights from landscape-supplier ranges. Rubber mulch: 0.8 cu ft bag weights from retail listings (Vigoro, GroundSmart); 6 in depth from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Public Playground Safety Handbook. Pine straw: 40 sq ft per bale at 3 in, landscape supplier guidance. Dump truck: a tandem-axle truck carries 10 to 14 cubic yards (Boom & Bucket; Aggregate Markets). Accessed 2026-09-30. Mulch weight varies with the wood, the chip size and above all the moisture — a bag stored outside after rain can weigh far more than its label — so treat these as planning figures.
More in this series
The rest of the yard
These are the weights and coverages every yard calculator on the site runs on. Each tool applies them to one material.
- Gravel Calculator Gravel, crushed stone, sand and road base by volume, tons and bags
- Mulch Calculator Cubic yards, bags or bales of mulch for every bed, topped up over the old layer
- Topsoil Calculator Cubic yards, tons and bags of topsoil, fill dirt or compost, with settling
- Crushed Stone Sizes and Coverage What each stone grade is for, and what a ton and a yard cover
- Topsoil Weight and Coverage What a yard of soil weighs dry, moist and wet, and how far it spreads
Tools for the job
What makes this job easier
Tools and materials that suit this kind of job. These are affiliate links: if you buy through one, Renovimo may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes the figures on this page.
Garvee
Dump cart, 1200 lb
Tips a whole load of gravel, mulch or debris where you want it.
Check price at Garvee
Garvee
Steel landscape edging
Keeps gravel, mulch and pavers from creeping into the lawn.
Check price at Garvee
Garvee
Lawn spreader, 24 in
Spreads fine gravel, sand, compost and seed evenly.
Check price at Garvee
Garvee
Raised garden bed, 8 × 4 ft
A 2 ft deep steel bed — fill it with the topsoil you just worked out.
Check price at Garvee