Cubic Yard Calculator

Bulk landscaping materials such as topsoil, fill dirt, mulch, compost, sand and concrete are sold by the cubic yard in the US. This calculator converts your measurements into cubic yards, and also shows cubic feet, cubic meters and the number of 2-cubic-foot bags, which is the common size for bagged mulch and soil at home improvement stores.

How to use it

1. Choose a rectangle (beds, lawns, slabs) or a circle (tree rings, round beds).
2. Enter the measurements. Each one can use its own unit, so you can mix feet for length and inches for depth.
3. If you have several identical areas, enter how many.

The formula

There are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard because a yard is 3 feet, and 3 × 3 × 3 = 27. A 10 × 10 ft bed covered 3 inches deep needs 10 × 10 × 0.25 = 25 cubic feet, which is about 0.93 cubic yards, or 13 bags of 2 cubic feet.

Typical depths

• Mulch: 2–4 inches around plants and trees, keeping it away from trunks.
• Topsoil for a new lawn: often 4–6 inches.
• Raised garden beds: the full height of the bed, often 8–12 inches.
• Sand under pavers: about 1 inch of bedding sand over a compacted base.

Bulk or bags?

One cubic yard equals 13.5 bags of 2 cubic feet. For small jobs bags are convenient; for anything over a couple of cubic yards, bulk delivery is usually cheaper and quicker. For gravel and stone sold by weight, use the gravel calculator; for concrete with bag counts, use the concrete calculator.

Frequently asked questions