Landscaping calculator
How many cubic feet in a yard of mulch?
One cubic yard of mulch is 27 cubic feet — 13.5 of the standard 2 cubic foot bags. Convert in either direction below, and see the depth, coverage and price that come with each answer.
Your project
Shredded hardwood is usually sold in 2 cu ft bags; bark nuggets often come in 3.
3" is the standard mulch depth for weed suppression.
That is
81 cu ft
3 cubic yards · 40.5 bags at 2 cu ft
- Cubic yards
- 3 cu yd
- Cubic feet
- 81 cu ft
- Bags at 2 cu ft
- 41 bags (40.5 exact)
- Bags if 2 cu ft
- 41 bags
- Bags if 3 cu ft
- 27 bags
- Coverage at 3" deep
- 324 sq ft
- Approximate weight (dry hardwood)
- 2,025 lb
- Cost bagged
- $185
- Cost bulk delivered
- $210
- Cheaper option
- Bagged mulch
13.5 bags to the yard is the number worth memorising. It is also why a 'few bags' never fills a bed — three cubic yards of mulch is 41 bags, four car trips and a sore back.
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How many cubic feet are in a yard of mulch?
Twenty-seven. A cubic yard is a cube three feet on every side, and 3 × 3 × 3 is 27 cubic feet. That is true for mulch, soil, gravel, sand and anything else sold by the yard — it is a unit of volume, not a property of the material.
Where mulch differs is the bag. The standard bag of shredded mulch at a garden centre holds 2 cubic feet, so a cubic yard is 27 ÷ 2 = 13.5 bags. You cannot buy half a bag, so in practice a yard is 14 bags on the pallet.
Bark nuggets and some premium products come in 3 cubic foot bags, which makes a yard 9 bags. Soil and compost usually come smaller — 1.5 cubic feet, so 18 bags to the yard, or 1 cubic foot, so 27.
Why 13.5 bags is the number that matters
It is the conversion that decides how you buy. At around $4.50 a bag, a cubic yard of bagged mulch is about $61 before you have loaded a single one into the car. The same yard delivered in bulk is $30 to $70 including a share of the haul fee, and it arrives in one pile.
The crossover sits near two cubic yards — about 27 bags. Below that, bagged wins: no delivery fee, no minimum order, no pile on the driveway. Above it, bulk wins on money, on time and on the amount of plastic you have to dispose of.
Bags do have real advantages. They store, they are easy to move to a back garden with no truck access, and colour is consistent between bags of the same lot. Bulk mulch varies load to load and has to be moved by wheelbarrow from wherever the truck can tip it.
Converting yards to coverage, not just to bags
A cubic yard spread three inches deep covers 108 square feet. At two inches it covers 162, and at four it covers 81. The rule is simple: 324 divided by the depth in inches gives the square feet one yard covers.
So the full chain from bed to order runs: measure the bed in square feet, multiply by depth in inches, divide by 324 for cubic yards, and multiply by 13.5 for 2 cubic foot bags. A 400 square foot bed at 3 inches is 3.7 cubic yards, which is exactly 50 bags.
Mulch settles roughly ten percent in the first month, which is why beds that looked perfect in April look thin by June. Ordering five to ten percent over is not waste — it is the difference between one delivery and two.
Cubic yards to bags of mulch
Exact bag counts at each common bag size, rounded up to whole bags.
| Cubic yards | Cubic feet | 2 cu ft bags | 3 cu ft bags | 1.5 cu ft bags | Covers at 3" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 cu yd | 6.8 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 27 sq ft |
| 0.5 cu yd | 13.5 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 54 sq ft |
| 1 cu yd | 27 | 14 | 9 | 18 | 108 sq ft |
| 1.5 cu yd | 40.5 | 21 | 14 | 27 | 162 sq ft |
| 2 cu yd | 54 | 27 | 18 | 36 | 216 sq ft |
| 3 cu yd | 81 | 41 | 27 | 54 | 324 sq ft |
| 4 cu yd | 108 | 54 | 36 | 72 | 432 sq ft |
| 5 cu yd | 135 | 68 | 45 | 90 | 540 sq ft |
| 10 cu yd | 270 | 135 | 90 | 180 | 1,080 sq ft |
Bags of mulch to cubic yards
Standard 2 cubic foot bags.
| Bags | Cubic feet | Cubic yards | Covers at 2" | Covers at 3" | Covers at 4" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 bags | 10 | 0.37 | 60 sq ft | 40 sq ft | 30 sq ft |
| 10 bags | 20 | 0.74 | 120 sq ft | 80 sq ft | 60 sq ft |
| 14 bags | 28 | 1.04 | 168 sq ft | 112 sq ft | 84 sq ft |
| 20 bags | 40 | 1.48 | 240 sq ft | 160 sq ft | 120 sq ft |
| 27 bags | 54 | 2 | 324 sq ft | 216 sq ft | 162 sq ft |
| 40 bags | 80 | 2.96 | 480 sq ft | 320 sq ft | 240 sq ft |
| 54 bags | 108 | 4 | 648 sq ft | 432 sq ft | 324 sq ft |
Bags per cubic yard by material and bag size
What a yard works out to for each product you are likely to buy bagged.
| Material | Usual bag size | Bags per cubic yard |
|---|---|---|
| Shredded hardwood mulch | 2 cu ft | 13.5 |
| Bark nuggets | 3 cu ft | 9 |
| Rubber mulch | 0.8 cu ft | 34 |
| Garden soil / raised bed mix | 1.5 cu ft | 18 |
| Compost / manure | 1 cu ft | 27 |
| Pea gravel and decorative stone | 0.5 cu ft | 54 |
Frequently asked questions
+How many cubic feet are in a yard of mulch?
27 cubic feet. A cubic yard is three feet by three feet by three feet, so 3 × 3 × 3 = 27. This holds for mulch, soil, compost and gravel alike.
+How many bags of mulch are in a cubic yard?
13.5 bags at the standard 2 cubic feet per bag, so 14 in practice. If your bags are 3 cubic feet it is 9 bags, and at 1.5 cubic feet it is 18.
+How many cubic feet is a bag of mulch?
Two cubic feet for the standard shredded mulch bag sold at most garden centres. Bark nuggets are often 3 cubic feet, and soil and compost bags are usually 1.5 or 1 cubic foot.
+How many yards is 40 bags of mulch?
About 2.96 cubic yards — 40 bags × 2 cubic feet = 80 cubic feet, divided by 27. That is enough to cover 320 square feet three inches deep.
+Is it cheaper to buy mulch in bags or bulk?
Bulk, past about two cubic yards. Bagged mulch works out around $60 per yard equivalent; bulk delivered runs $30 to $70 per yard including a share of the haul fee, and the fee spreads thinner the more you order.
+How much area does a cubic yard of mulch cover?
108 square feet at 3 inches deep, 162 at 2 inches and 81 at 4 inches. The formula is 324 divided by the depth in inches.
+How much does a cubic yard of mulch weigh?
About 600 to 800 lb dry for shredded hardwood, and up to 1,000 lb after rain. A 2 cubic foot bag weighs roughly 40 lb dry.
+How many cubic feet in a yard of soil, gravel or sand?
27, the same as mulch — the yard is a unit of volume. What changes between materials is the weight and the bag size, not the conversion.