Mulch & Soil Calculator

Each bed is an area — rectangle, circle or a figure you already have — times the depth of material, entered in inches or centimetres and converted to feet or metres before multiplying. Beds are summed, and a waste allowance, if you use one, is applied to the total. The result is shown in the small unit bags are sold by (cubic feet or litres) and in the bulk unit loads are sold by (cubic yards or cubic metres), with 27 ft³ to the yard exactly.

Bag sizes differ by product and country — 1.5, 2 and 3 ft³ and 40, 50 and 70 L are all common — so the size is read from the bag you intend to buy, not assumed. Bags are whole: the count is rounded up, and when that leaves more than half a bag spare the page says so. Bulk is priced per cubic yard or metre on the exact volume; delivery charges and minimum loads, which usually decide the comparison for small jobs, are not included. Both costs are shown when you give both prices; the page does not pick one.

The right depth depends on the material (fine compost settles differently from bark chips), the purpose (weed suppression, moisture retention, top-dressing, a play surface) and what is already on the bed. Those are horticultural or product-specific judgements, so the depth is an input with a labelled sample value. Note that mulch settles after a season; the depth you enter is the depth as laid.

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