Mulch volume calculator
Type an area and a depth to see the volume of a mulch layer in cubic yards and cubic metres.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Published tables are revised: the source has the last word.
Work it out
How the answer is worked out
Volume = area times depth. The typed units are changed to metres first, so the area and the depth can use different units.
Cubic yards = volume in cubic metres divided by 0.9144 cubed, since 1 yard is exactly 0.9144 metres. Cubic feet are shown too, since 1 cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.
In US units this is the same as area in square feet times depth in inches, divided by 324 (27 cubic feet times 12 inches), for cubic yards.
What the sources say
A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension page gives the arithmetic for mulch as cubic yards = (length in feet times width in feet times (depth in inches divided by 12)) divided by 27, and its handout prints the same sum as area times depth divided by 324. Both are the area-times-depth sum above, written for US units.
NIST gives the yard as exactly 0.9144 metres and the cubic yard to seven figures in its Appendix B.9 factors by kind of quantity.
The answer is the space the layer fills. How far a delivery settles or compacts is not part of the arithmetic.
Arithmetic only. The answer is only as good as the numbers entered. It is not a plan or a safe working load for any job.
Sources
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Travis County, How Much Compost, Soil or Mulch?, read October 8, 2026
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Travis County, handout How Much Compost, Soil or Mulch Do I Need to Purchase? (PDF, as hosted by UC ANR), read October 8, 2026
- NIST, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SP 811), Appendix B.8 factors for units listed alphabetically, read October 8, 2026
- NIST, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SP 811), Appendix B.9 factors for units listed by kind of quantity, read October 8, 2026