Gravel and mulch calculator
Gravel, crushed stone, sand, topsoil or mulch over a bed, a path or a pad. Enter the size and the depth; this gives the cubic yards a yard sells by, the tons it weighs, and the bags it takes if you are carrying it home.
Usually spread 2–3" in a bed
Ask the yard for theirs
Printed on the bag
Mulch, bulk
1.11cu yd
Weight
0.33 tons
Or bags of 2 cu ft
15
Cubic feet
30.0
Where the number comes from
- Area
- 120.0 sq ft
- Volume120.0 sq ft × 3" ÷ 12
- 30.0 cu ft
- Cubic yards27 cu ft to the yard
- 1.11
- WeightAt 0.3 tons a cubic yard, 2,000 lb to the ton
- 667 lb
Why the weight is a guess and the volume is not
The cubic yards are geometry. The tons are not: the same yard of gravel weighs more wet than dry, and crushed stone with its fines left in packs heavier than washed stone. The weights here are typical dry, loose figures — gravel near 1.4 tons a yard, mulch a fraction of that — and the yard selling it will have its own. Order by their number.
Stone for a base gets compacted, and compacted stone takes up less room than the loose stone on the truck, so a base usually wants a little more than the depth here says.
Where to buy this
- 1.11 cu yd of mulch, bulkHome DepotLowe's
- 15 bags of mulch, 2 cu ftHome DepotLowe's
A landscape yard sells bulk by the yard or the ton and usually beats both on anything over a yard or two — the bags make sense for a small bed.
Plain search links, nothing sponsored. Prices and stock are the shop's, and a local lumberyard will usually beat both on solid stock.
About bulk landscape material
- How much area does a cubic yard of mulch cover?
- About 108 square feet at 3" deep, or 162 at 2". A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, and 3" is a quarter of a foot, so 27 ÷ 0.25 = 108. That is 14 bags of 2 cu ft, which is why a yard of bulk mulch is usually cheaper than the bags as soon as the bed is bigger than a small border.
- How many tons is a cubic yard of gravel?
- Typically around 1.4 tons dry, which is the default here — but that is a typical figure, not a standard. Wet stone weighs more, crushed stone with its fines left in packs heavier than washed stone, and every yard publishes its own conversion. Order by theirs; the weight field on the calculator is editable for exactly that. Mulch is the outlier: roughly 0.3 tons a yard, a fraction of any stone.
- How many bags of gravel make a cubic yard?
- 54 of the common 0.5 cu ft bags — a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. At that count, bags only make sense for a small job; past a yard, a truck from a landscape yard is less money and far less lifting.
- How deep should gravel or mulch be?
- Mulch is usually spread 2–3" in a bed — enough to hold moisture and keep weeds down, not so deep it smothers roots. A gravel path is usually 2–3" of pea gravel or finer stone on a firm base, and a base under pavers or a shed pad is usually 4–6" of crushed stone, compacted. Those are common practice rather than a rule; a driveway or soft ground wants more.
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