Bed size
Typical depth
Waste
Waste covers irregular edges, settling, and the extra you dump around shrubs. 10% is a common pad. Paths with tight borders can run 5%. Use 0% for a textbook volume.
Order
- Cubic yards bulk
- —
- 2 cu ft bags
- —
- 3 cu ft bags optional
- —
Enter length, width, and depth.
This is an estimate, not a weigh-ticket, and not landscaping advice. It does not choose bark vs hardwood, dyed vs natural, or how thick a bed should be. Bags compact; bulk loads settle. Confirm volume with your landscape yard. Not soil fill. Not gravel tons. Nothing on this page leaves the browser.
How the volume is counted
This is bags vs bulk cubic yards of bark and mulch, not soil fill and not gravel tons. Bed volume is length × width × depth. Depth in inches is divided by 12 to get feet. Divide cubic feet by 27 for cubic yards. Waste chips (0 / 5 / 10 / 15%, default 10%) pad the order for edges and settling.
Garden-center bags are usually 2 cubic feet — the standard landscape bag. Some yards also stack 3 cubic foot bags. Bag counts round up; you cannot buy a fraction of a bag.
volume_ft3 = length_ft × width_ft × (depth_in / 12) yards = volume_ft3 / 27 × (1 + waste) bags_2cf = ceil(volume_ft3 × (1 + waste) / 2) bags_3cf = ceil(volume_ft3 × (1 + waste) / 3)
Example: 10 ft × 10 ft × 3 in with 0% waste is 25 ft³ → 0.926 yd³, 13 of the 2 cu ft bags (or 9 of the 3 cu ft bags). At the default 10% waste that is 1.019 yd³ / 14 of the 2 cu ft bags. The same bed at 2 inches with 0% waste is about 0.617 yd³ / 9 bags.
FAQ
Why bags and bulk cubic yards on the same page?
Garden centers sell bark in 2 cu ft bags (sometimes 3). Landscape yards dump bulk by the cubic yard. This page shows both from the same bed. Not soil fill — that is 40 lb bags on the soil calculator. Not gravel tons.
What do the waste chips 0 / 5 / 10 / 15% cover on mulch?
Extra bark for irregular edges, settling, and the pile around shrubs. Default 10%. Tight path with a border: 5%. Messy shrub bed: 15%. 0% is textbook volume. Waste multiplies cubic feet before yards and bags. Not a compaction spec.
Why 2 cu ft bags and 3 cu ft bags?
The standard landscape bag is 2 cubic feet. Some yards stack 3. Counts ceil — you cannot buy a fraction. A 10×10 bed at 3 inches with 0% waste is 25 ft³ → 13 of the 2 cu ft bags (or 9 of the 3 cu ft). At the default 10% waste that is 14 of the 2 cu ft bags. Not a 40 lb soil bag.
How much mulch for a 10×10 bed?
At 3 inches with the default 10% waste: 1.019 cubic yards, 14 of the 2 cu ft bags (10 of the 3 cu ft). At 0% waste: 0.926 yd³ / 13 bags. Depth chips: 2 inch refresh/path, 3 inch new bed. This tool does not pick which depth your plants need.
Bark and mulch vs soil fill vs gravel — same math?
Same rectangle. Different product. This page is bark and mulch: bags vs bulk yards. Soil fill uses 40 lb (0.75 cu ft) bags on the soil calculator. Gravel is yards and estimated tons, not bags. Do not order fill dirt or quarry stone from these bag counts.
Is this landscaping advice?
No. Quantity math only. Not a plant spec, not a weigh-ticket, not drainage, not soil fill, not gravel tons. Dyed, hardwood, and bark chips settle differently. Confirm with the yard.