MyBuildPlanner / Calculators / Garden & Yard

Landscaping Calculators for Sod, Seed, Mulch & Raised Beds

Work out the cubic yards, the pounds of seed and the real cost before you order anything.

By Trace Bailey · Reviewed August 8, 2026 · How we calculate

14 calculators

Garden & Yard

Yard work splits into two kinds of math. Beds, mulch and soil are volume problems — area times depth, divided by 27, and the answer is in cubic yards somebody has to move by wheelbarrow. Lawns are biology problems, where the season you plant in matters more than anything you buy. The calculators here cover both, but the money and the failures come from decisions you make before you open one.

Three of those decisions move real money. Sod costs roughly eight times what seed costs for the same lawn, and it sets your calendar for a year. Mulch depth decides whether you order three yards or seven — measure what's already in the bed, because most beds need a one-inch refresh, not three. And bulk only beats bagged past about four cubic yards, because the delivery fee has to be earned back first.

Before you pick a tool

Sort these four out first

Should I lay sod or plant grass seed?

Seed, unless you have a reason not to. Seed and starter fertilizer run about $0.06 a square foot against $0.50 or more for sod, so a 5,000 sq ft lawn is near $300 seeded and $2,500 sodded before labor. Pay the difference in three cases: you missed the seeding window and want grass now, the bank drops more than a foot every four feet and loose seed will wash, or it's a small front yard where two patchy months isn't acceptable. Run the Grass Seed Calculator and the Sod Calculator on the same measurements.

How deep does mulch actually need to be?

Two to three inches on a new bed, one inch as an annual top-up. Mulch stops weeds by blocking light, and three inches blocks about as much as six. Past four inches the layer stays wet, roots climb up into the bark instead of down into the soil, and fine mulch mats over and sheds rain rather than letting it through. Push a finger into the existing bed before ordering: most still hold two inches, so you're buying a one-inch refresh. Set the Mulch Calculator to the depth you're adding, not the finished depth — that alone often halves the order.

Bulk or bagged — where does bulk actually get cheaper?

Bulk is cheaper per yard from the very first yard, but a $60–90 delivery fee has to be earned back, and that pushes the real crossover to about four cubic yards of mulch. Under that, buy bags. Over it, order bulk and check the yard's minimum, usually two or three yards. Hauling it yourself changes everything: mulch runs 500–800 lb a cubic yard, so a half-ton pickup takes two yards of dry bark, while screened topsoil at 2,000–2,700 lb fills the same truck at three-quarters of a yard.

What should I fill a raised bed with?

Not potting mix, and not straight compost. Aim for about 60% screened topsoil, 30% compost and 10% something coarse — bark fines, pumice or coarse sand. Straight compost looks great in April and shrinks a quarter to a third by August; peat potting mix runs $7–10 a cubic foot against roughly $2 for bulk bed mix, and it sets like a brick once it dries out. A 4×8 bed 12 inches deep takes 1.2 cubic yards: about $200 bagged, or $66 bulk before delivery. Bag a single bed, order bulk from two beds up — the Raised Garden Bed Builder prices both.

Reference

Bulk vs bagged hardwood mulch — where the crossover really sits

Volume	Bagged @ $4/bag	Bulk + $75 delivery	Cheaper
1 cu yd (108 sq ft at 3")	14 bags — $56	$35 + $75 = $110	Bags
2 cu yd (216 sq ft at 3")	27 bags — $108	$70 + $75 = $145	Bags
3 cu yd (324 sq ft at 3")	41 bags — $164	$105 + $75 = $180	Bags, barely
4 cu yd (432 sq ft at 3")	54 bags — $216	$140 + $75 = $215	Even — the crossover
6 cu yd (648 sq ft at 3")	81 bags — $324	$210 + $75 = $285	Bulk, by $39
10 cu yd (1,080 sq ft at 3")	135 bags — $540	$350 + $75 = $425	Bulk, by $115

Delivery is the whole argument. Take the fee out — you own a truck, or the yard delivers free over a minimum — and bulk wins from the first yard. Most yards also set a two- or three-yard delivery minimum, so a one-yard bulk order often isn't on the menu anyway. Figures assume hardwood bark at $35 a bulk yard and $4 per 2 cu ft bag; cedar, dyed mulch and screened topsoil move the numbers but not the shape of the curve. Planning estimate — call your local yard for its real fee and minimum.

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Answers

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to landscape a yard yourself?

Budget by the square foot, job by job. A DIY seeded lawn runs $0.06–0.12 a square foot in materials, sod $0.50–0.85 once you add the rentals, mulched beds $0.30–0.55 at three inches depending on bulk or bags, and a 4×8 raised bed $150–200 in pine or $220–400 in cedar, filled. A bare quarter-acre lot — call it 8,000 square feet of lawn after the house and drive — seeded, with 400 square feet of beds mulched, lands near $800–1,300 in materials. Sod that same lawn and you're at $4,500–7,000. Hiring it out roughly doubles to triples the number.

What order should yard projects go in?

Grading and drainage first, then hardscape, then soil, then plants, then lawn, then mulch. Everything done later gets dragged across whatever's already there, so a lawn laid before the patio is a lawn you'll rebuild. Cut and define your bed edges before you order mulch, because the edge is what sets the square footage. Measure a curved bed as the rectangle around it and you'll overshoot by about a quarter — an oval is only π/4 of its bounding box. Put irrigation in before soil goes down. Mulch is genuinely last.

How much area does a cubic yard of mulch or soil cover?

A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, which spreads 324 square feet one inch deep. Divide 324 by your depth in inches for coverage: 162 sq ft at 2 inches, 108 at 3, 81 at 4, 54 at 6. Suppliers usually round that to 100 square feet at 3 inches, which quietly builds in a small cushion. One number covers mulch, topsoil, compost and gravel — they're all just volume. Working backwards, a 500 square foot bed at 3 inches needs 500 ÷ 108, about 4.6 cubic yards. Round up to the next half yard.

When should each of these jobs be done?

Work back from two fixed dates: your first fall frost and your last spring frost. Mulch goes down mid-spring once the soil has warmed — mulching cold ground keeps it cold. Raised beds can be built any weekend, then filled and planted around the last frost. Build a coop in late winter: chicks hit feed stores in March and outgrow a brooder in about six weeks, so it has to be standing by then. Sod goes down any time the ground isn't frozen, though summer sod needs twice the water. Cool-season seed wants late August to early October.