It's the question every landscape project starts with, usually while standing in a garden center parking lot doing math on a phone: how much of this stuff do I actually need? Here's the simple version, the tables, and the honest bags-versus-bulk breakdown - tuned for Kansas City yards.
The one formula to remember
Length (ft) × Width (ft) × Depth (inches) ÷ 324 = cubic yards.
That's it. A 20-foot by 10-foot bed at 3 inches deep: 20 × 10 × 3 ÷ 324 = 1.85, call it two cubic yards. For odd-shaped beds, break them into rough rectangles and add them up - landscaping forgives approximation.
Quick coverage table (per cubic yard)
| Depth | Coverage per cubic yard | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 2 inches | ~160 sq ft | Mulch refresh over existing mulch |
| 3 inches | ~108 sq ft | New mulch beds (the standard) |
| 4 inches | ~81 sq ft | Weed-suppression depth, gravel paths |
| 6 inches | ~54 sq ft | Driveway gravel, drainage rock |
Depth guidance worth following: mulch wants 2-3 inches (deeper suffocates roots and invites pests against trunks - keep it pulled back from stems); decorative rock typically 2-3 inches over fabric; driveway and path gravel 4-6 inches in compacted lifts.
KC-specific depth notes
Kansas City's freeze-thaw cycles and gully-washer storms punish thin gravel and shallow mulch. Beds on slopes lose material to summer downpours - a 3-inch mulch depth with an edge barrier holds dramatically better than 2 inches without one. And for drainage projects, our clay soil means rock depth matters more than it does in sandier regions; don't shortcut the 6 inches on a French drain.
Bags vs. bulk: the real math
Bagged mulch runs about 2 cubic feet per bag - 13.5 bags per cubic yard. At typical KC prices ($3.50-$6 per bag), a cubic yard in bags costs roughly $47-$81, versus $30-$55 per yard for the same material in bulk. Gravel and rock skew even harder toward bulk.
The rule of thumb: under two yards, bags are defensible (no delivery cost, easy to stage, leftover bags store clean). At two-plus yards, bulk wins on price - and enormously on labor, because two yards is 27 bags, and 27 bags is 27 trips from the trunk.
How delivery works (and why the drop spot matters)
Bulk material arrives by the truckload and gets tipped in one spot - so the spot is everything. A pile at the top of the driveway 90 feet from the beds adds an hour of wheelbarrow time to your day. When you book a landscape material delivery, think through:
- The shortest wheelbarrow run to where the material actually goes.
- Surface protection - a tarp under the pile makes cleanup a five-minute job instead of a raking session.
- Access clearance - gate widths, low branches, sprinkler heads, and septic areas all matter to where a loaded truck can safely go.
- Weather timing - a mulch pile through a KC thunderstorm is fine; a topsoil pile is a mudslide. Schedule accordingly.
Ordering cheat sheet
- Measure beds and break odd shapes into rectangles.
- Run the ÷324 formula per area; add 10% for settling and slope loss.
- Under 2 yards → bags are fine. Over 2 yards → bulk delivery.
- Pick the drop spot for the shortest carry, tarp it, and clear the access path.
Send us the bed dimensions with your delivery request and we'll sanity-check the math before you order - over-ordering by "one extra yard to be safe" is the most common (and most shoveled-regretfully) mistake in the business. And if the project starts with clearing the old landscape first, brush removal pairs naturally with the delivery trip.