Calculating Coverage of Bulk Materials
Here's how to figure out how much mulch you need:
First decide if you are just top-dressing a previously mulched area or if you are putting a new layer of mulch over exposed soil.
In general:
top-dress @ 1" depth (use 1yard for 300 sq ft)
new mulch @ 3" depth (use 1yard for 100 sq ft)
Determine your square footage multiplying length X width of your area. (Hint: pretend circular areas are squares and add up squares and rectangles in your project to estimate total square footage.)
|
Square
Feet |
D E P T H |
|
1" |
2" |
3" |
4" |
5" |
6" |
|
100 |
½ |
¾ |
1 |
1 ¼ |
1 ½ |
2 |
|
150 |
½ |
1 |
1 ½ |
2 |
2 ½ |
2 ¾ |
|
200 |
¾ |
1 ¼ |
2 |
2 ½ |
3 |
3 ¾ |
|
250 |
¾ |
1 ½ |
2 ½ |
3 |
4 |
4 ¾ |
|
300 |
1 |
2 |
2 ¾ |
3 ¾ |
4 ¾ |
5 ½ |
|
350 |
1 |
2 ¼ |
3 ¼ |
4 ½ |
5 ½ |
6 ½ |
|
400 |
1 ¼ |
2 ½ |
3 ¾ |
5 |
6 ¼ |
7 ½ |
|
450 |
1 ½ |
3 |
4 ¼ |
5 ¾ |
7 |
8 ½ |
|
500 |
1 ½ |
3 |
4 ¾ |
6 ¼ |
7 ¾ |
9 ¼ |
For larger areas, combine totals using this chart. (i.e. for 600 sq.ft. at 3" depth add totals for 100sq. ft. and 500 sq. ft. OR multlply total for 300 sq. ft. by 2. This will get you really close to the quantity you need. Round up to the nearest 1/2 yd of mulch)
*add 20% for topsoil for compaction (i.e. to raise a 450 sq. ft. bed up 5" with topsoil it would take 20% more than the chart says for mulch. Therefore 7 yds. X 0.2 = 1.4 yds additional soil so order 8 1/2 yds of topsoil for this project)
Comparing Bagged vs. Bulk note: 1 yd3 = 27 ft3
Mulch 1 yd 3 = (14) 2ft3 bags
= ( 9) 3ft3 bags
Stone 1 yd 3= (54) bags of ½ft3 size (50#)
Are you picking up your mulch/topsoil/stone?
Vehicle capacity guidelines:
|
|
Mulch |
Topsoil |
Stone |
|
½ ton full-sized PU |
2 yd ( 1 ½ yd short box) |
1 yd |
½ yd |
|
¾ ton full-sized PU |
Same as above |
1 ½ yd |
1 | |