Garden & landscaping
Filling beds, topping up lawns. Tells you whether bags or a bulk load is cheaper.
Depth is the decision that matters, and more is not better. Two to three inches of mulch suppresses weeds and holds moisture; deeper than four sheds light rain before it reaches the soil. Topdressing a lawn wants an inch or two at most.
Weight is the other thing to know before ordering. A cubic yard of bark mulch is around 600 to 800 pounds; the same volume of topsoil is well over a ton. One is an afternoon with a wheelbarrow, the other is a hard day.
- Mulch How much mulch a bed needs, in cubic yards or two cubic foot bags.
- Pool volume How many gallons a pool holds — rectangle, round, oval or kidney.
- Sod & grass seed Rolls and pallets of turf for a lawn, or the seed to do it the slow way.
- Topsoil How much topsoil a bed or lawn needs, in cubic yards, bags and tons.