One cubic yard of mulch covers 108 square feet at 3 inches deep (162 sq ft at 2 in), and one cubic metre covers 13.3 m² at 75 mm (20 m² at 50 mm). Fresh mulch settles, so allow 10% extra: with that allowance a cubic yard covers about 98 sq ft at 3 in, and a cubic metre about 12.1 m² at 75 mm.

One cubic yard spreads to 324 sq ft at 1 in deep: divide 324 by the depth in inches. In metric, 1 m³ covers 10 m² at 100 mm.

We also checked the mulch bags on sale at 14 retailers in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, and worked out what each size covers.

What we found

Bag sizes differ by country. US: 2 cu ft, 3 cu ft; Canada: 42.5 L, 56 L; UK: 50 L, 60 L, 70 L, 100 L; Australia: 25 L, 50 L. It takes 30.6 bags of 25 L (Australia) to make a cubic yard, but only 7.6 bags of 100 L (UK).
Every coverage figure printed on a product page was plain volume ÷ depth. 4 of the 16 pages state a coverage, and none of them allows for settling. If you buy exactly what the label says, the bed will end up thinner than you planned.
Small bags add up fast. A 100 sq ft bed at 3 in takes 14 bags of 2 cu ft with 10% for settling; a 10 m² bed at 75 mm takes 33 bags of 25 litres.

How far does a cubic yard of mulch go?

A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Divide that by the depth in feet: at 3 in (0.25 ft), 27 ÷ 0.25 = 108 sq ft.

What 1 cubic yard of mulch covers
Depth	Coverage	With 10% for settling
1 in	324 sq ft	295 sq ft
2 in	162 sq ft	147 sq ft
3 in	108 sq ft	98 sq ft
4 in	81 sq ft	74 sq ft

What 1 cubic metre of mulch covers
Depth	Coverage	With 10% for settling
25 mm	40 m²	36.4 m²
50 mm	20 m²	18.2 m²
75 mm	13.3 m²	12.1 m²
100 mm	10 m²	9.1 m²

How much does one bag of mulch cover?

US and Canadian bags are often labelled in cubic feet, so the first table is in square feet. UK, Canadian and Australian bags are sold in litres, so the second table is in square metres.

Area one bag covers, in square feet (no settling allowance)
Bag	1 in deep	2 in deep	3 in deep	4 in deep
2 cu ft US	24 sq ft	12 sq ft	8 sq ft	6 sq ft
3 cu ft US	36 sq ft	18 sq ft	12 sq ft	9 sq ft
42.5 L (1.5 cu ft) Canada	18 sq ft	9 sq ft	6 sq ft	4.5 sq ft
56 L (2 cu ft) Canada	23.7 sq ft	11.9 sq ft	7.9 sq ft	5.9 sq ft

Area one bag covers, in square metres (no settling allowance)
Bag	25 mm deep	50 mm deep	75 mm deep	100 mm deep
42.5 L (1.5 cu ft) Canada	1.7 m²	0.85 m²	0.57 m²	0.43 m²
56 L (2 cu ft) Canada	2.24 m²	1.12 m²	0.75 m²	0.56 m²
50 L UK	2 m²	1 m²	0.67 m²	0.5 m²
60 L UK	2.4 m²	1.2 m²	0.8 m²	0.6 m²
70 L UK	2.8 m²	1.4 m²	0.93 m²	0.7 m²
100 L UK	4 m²	2 m²	1.33 m²	1 m²
25 L Australia	1 m²	0.5 m²	0.33 m²	0.25 m²
50 L Australia	2 m²	1 m²	0.67 m²	0.5 m²

How many bags of mulch make a cubic yard or a cubic metre?

Mulch bag sizes on sale, and how many make a cubic yard or cubic metre
Bag	Bags per cubic yard	Bags per cubic metre	Bags for 100 sq ft at 3 in (with 10%)	Bags for 10 m² at 75 mm (with 10%)
2 cu ft US	13.5	17.7	14	15
3 cu ft US	9	11.8	10	10
42.5 L (1.5 cu ft) Canada	18	23.5	19	20
56 L (2 cu ft) Canada	13.7	17.9	14	15
50 L UK	15.3	20	16	17
60 L UK	12.7	16.7	13	14
70 L UK	10.9	14.3	12	12
100 L UK	7.6	10	8	9
25 L Australia	30.6	40	32	33
50 L Australia	15.3	20	16	17

For the question on its own, with a worked example, see how many bags of mulch are in a cubic yard. For the right depth, see how deep mulch should be.

The data

The products we checked
Product	Size stated	Coverage stated on the page	Source
Scotts Nature Scapes Deep Forest Brown Bark Color Enhanced Mulch US	2 cu ft	Coverage area at 2-inch depth: 12 square foot. Volume ÷ depth gives 12 sq ft.	Ace Hardware
Scotts Nature Scapes Color Enhanced Classic Black Hardwood Mulch US	2 cu ft	None stated	Lowe's
Grade-A All Bark Cedar Mulch US	3 cu ft	One 3 cu ft bag covers approximately 12 sq ft when applied 3 in deep. Volume ÷ depth gives 12 sq ft.	Johnson's Garden Centers
Seasonal Pine Bark Mulch US	3 cu ft	None stated	Ace Hardware
Scotts Nature Scapes Natural Garden Mulch Canada	42.5 L (1.5 cu ft)	Each 42.5 L (1.5 cu ft) bag covers approximately 6 sq ft at a 3-inch depth. Volume ÷ depth gives 6 sq ft.	Home Hardware
Fertilec Cedar Mulch, natural Canada	56 L (2 cu ft)	None stated	BMR
Fafard Black Cedar Mulch Canada	56 L (2 cu ft)	None stated	Pépinière (Fafard)
Verve Natural Bark Chippings UK	50 L	None stated	B&Q
Harmony Gardens Bark Chips UK	50 L	None stated	Homebase
Verve Bark Chippings (25-bag pack) UK	60 L	None stated	Screwfix
Westland Decorative Mini Bark UK	70 L	None stated	Longacres
Westland Landscape Bark UK	100 L	None stated	Stewarts
Garden Basics Water Saving Mulch Australia	25 L	None stated	Bunnings
The Garden Family Softscape Mulch Australia	25 L	None stated	Bunnings
Naturally Good Pine Bark Australia	25 L	None stated	Stratco
Garden Basics Pine Bark Mulch Australia	50 L	For a fresh 50 mm application, allow one bag per square metre. Volume ÷ depth gives 1 m².	Nursery Near Me

Download the data (CSV): every product, with bags per cubic yard and cubic metre, and coverage at each depth.

Method

Bag sizes: we opened retailer product pages in each country on 9 November 2026 and recorded the size exactly as stated. Where a Canadian bag states both litres and cubic feet, we used the litres.
Coverage: area = volume ÷ depth, worked out with the same function our mulch calculator uses. One cubic yard is 764.6 litres; one cubic foot is 28.32 litres.
Settling: the "with 10%" columns use the calculator's default allowance for mulch, which you can change on the calculator.
Coverage claims: where a page states a coverage, we compared it with volume ÷ depth at the same depth.

Limitations

This is a sample of 16 products at 14 retailers, not every bag on sale. Other sizes exist; check the label.
Bags are filled by volume, and bark compresses in the bag and settles on the bed. How much depends on the product and how wet it is.
Product pages change. The figures were correct on the pages we read on 9 November 2026.

Cite this

Yardstickly (2026). Mulch Coverage by Depth and Bag Size: US, Canada, UK and Australia. https://www.yardstickly.com/research/mulch-coverage/

Licence: the compiled data is free to reuse under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Yardstickly and link to this page.

Know a bag size we're missing, or spotted an error? Tell us and we'll check and add it.