ABOUT
About Mulch Measure
Mulch Measure is an independent site about one narrow subject: working out how much mulch, pine straw or rubber mulch a project actually needs, and what that quantity costs. It is written for homeowners planning a weekend of bed work, not for contractors estimating a subdivision.
What is on the site
- A free mulch calculator for rectangular and circular beds, reporting cubic yards, cubic feet, whole bags at two common bag sizes, an estimated weight range, and an optional material cost.
- Separate calculators for the cases the main one does not cover well: net coverage after subtracting a bare circle, a supplier-quote reverse check, pine straw bales, rubber mulch bags, and playground safety surfaces.
- Reference pages for the questions people ask before ordering: how many bags are in a cubic yard, how much area a yard covers at each depth, what a 2 cubic foot bag covers, and how a yard price compares with bagged mulch.
How the numbers are made
Every figure on this site falls into one of three groups, and the page tells you which one you are looking at.
- Arithmetic constants. One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. One cubic yard covers 324 square feet at one inch deep. Coverage per bag is the bag's cubic feet × 12 ÷ depth in inches. These cannot go stale, and the calculators show the formula they used underneath every result.
- Cited outside sources. Where a number is a judgement rather than arithmetic — recommended playground surfacing depths, the weight of a cubic yard of mulch, whether mulch attracts termites — the page names the source, and the sources are listed at the foot of the page. We use the CPSC Public Playground Safety Handbook, university extension publications, and published product specifications.
- Dated checks. Retail prices change constantly, so price pages carry the date they were collected and list the page each figure came from. They are snapshots, not live feeds, and they say so.
We do not publish a number we cannot show a source for. Where the honest answer is a range — mulch weight, for example, which varies with material and moisture — we show the range rather than inventing a single figure.
What this site deliberately does not do
- No sign-up, no account, and no email capture. The calculators run in your browser and nothing you type is sent to us.
- No claim to be a retailer or a landscaping service. We do not sell mulch, quote delivery, or take orders.
- No paid placement disguised as advice. Advertising and affiliate links are labelled as advertising where they appear.
- No guarantee of accuracy for your specific project. Results are estimates from the measurements you enter; measure carefully and confirm the quantity with your supplier before ordering.
Corrections
If a number here is wrong, or a source has been updated since we checked it, tell us and we will correct the page and change its update date. The same address handles everything: [email protected].
See also the privacy policy for how the site handles data, and the contact page for what to include when you write.