Short answer: Mulch cost per yard in 2026 is about $31 to $49 for bulk mulch at the supply yard: natural shredded wood $31 to $45, dyed $40 to $49 (price lists from 25 yards). Cedar runs $47 to $80. Bagged mulch works out to $53 to $77 a yard; delivery adds $60 to $150 a load and spreading labor $25 to $57 a yard.
$40–$42.50 median price per cubic yard for natural and dyed bulk mulch at 25 supply yards (2026 price lists)
13.5 two-cubic-foot bags in one cubic yard, so a $5 bag is a $67.50 yard (arithmetic)
$40–$170 one supplier’s 2026 delivery fee, from under 1 mile to 25 miles (Portland Rock schedule)
~4 yd the order size where delivered bulk starts beating bags, at the midpoints of our ranges (estimate; see method)
Mulch cost per yard depends less on where you live than on three choices: the material, whether you buy it loose or in bags, and who moves it. This guide is built from what sellers actually post. We compiled 2026 prices from 32 supply yards and online sellers in 22 states, 133 product listings in all, plus their delivery schedules, bag sizes and installation rates, then added BLS wage data for the crews who spread it. Every figure links to the page it came from, the full table is downloadable, and the calculator below runs on the same numbers. Other yard projects are priced in our cost guides.
Mulch cost per yard by type in 2026
A yard of mulch means one cubic yard: 27 cubic feet, a pile about 3 feet on each side. At the supply yard, a yard of plain shredded mulch costs about $31 to $45 and a yard of dyed mulch about $40 to $49. Specialty bark and cedar cost more; raw wood chips cost less. These are pickup prices before delivery and sales tax.
| Mulch type | Price per cubic yard, middle half | Median | Lowest to highest posted | Sellers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural (undyed) shredded wood or hardwood | $31–$45 | $40 | $20–$58 | 23 |
| Dyed black, brown or red | $40–$49 | $42.50 | $28–$61 | 24 |
| Cedar (shredded, chips, “gorilla hair”) | $47–$80 | $50 | $42–$99.95 | 15 |
| Pine bark mulch, fines or nuggets | $43–$55 | $47.50 | $35–$99 | 6 |
| Fir, hemlock or redwood bark | $47–$69 | $56.25 | $42–$105 | 9 |
| Cypress or cypress blend | $42–$49 | $46.50 | $32–$49.99 | 4 |
| Wood chips (unrefined) | $18–$25 | $20 | $15–$42 | 9 |
| Certified playground chips | $41–$51 | $48 | $31–$69.90 | 15 |
| Rubber mulch (pallet or sack, converted) | $273–$308 | n/a | $273.16–$307.80 | 2 |
| Pine straw | $5.50–$17.50 per bale | n/a | rolls $13–$13.99 | 4 |
| Bagged natural or dyed mulch, converted to a yard | $53–$77 | $67.50 | $53.33–$76.50 | 3 |
Uses the per-yard ranges in this guide's tables (supply-yard prices checked October 2026; installed = material plus $25 to $57 labor). Excludes sales tax. See How we built these numbers.
The calculator multiplies the cubic yards you enter by the per-yard range for the mulch and service you pick, then adds one delivery fee. The “installed” options add our labor estimate of $25 to $57 a yard, built in the installation section below. Switch delivery off if you are buying bags or hauling it yourself.
How much is a yard of mulch?
A yard of standard bulk mulch costs about $40 to $42.50 at the median supply yard in 2026, and most yards price it between $31 and $49. The cheapest posted yard of natural mulch was $20 (Got Mulch, Long Island); the highest was $58 for a natural forest mulch in Utah (BioGrass). One yard covers 108 square feet at 3 inches deep.
Two patterns stand out. Dye adds only a few dollars a yard at most yards: Mr. Mulch in Columbus charges $52 for natural triple-shredded and $54 for the dyed black version, and Plaisted in Minnesota charges $42.95 for both. Cedar is where prices split: native cedar in Texas sells for $45 a yard (Cheaper Than Dirt, Farr’s), while western red cedar in Minnesota and Colorado runs $85.79 to $99.95.
Whether cedar is worth that premium is a separate question: our look at cedar mulch pros and cons compares its decay, pest and fire test results with cypress, pine bark and hardwood.
What 28 supply yards charge per cubic yard
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Supplier, location | Natural (undyed) | Dyed | Cedar | Bark (pine, fir, hemlock, redwood) | Wood chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southridge Farm & Nursery, Walpole, Mass. | – | $39 | $42 | $35–$47 | – |
| T.W. Nickerson, Cape Cod, Mass. | $40 | $28–$45 | – | $56.25 | $20 |
| Kirk Allen Landscape Supply, Stanhope, N.J. | $25.50 | $37.50 | $75 | $47 | $18 |
| Peach Country Tractor, Mullica Hill, N.J. | $25 | $31.50 | $50 | – | $19 |
| Got Mulch, Long Island, N.Y. | $20 | $29 | – | – | – |
| Conestoga Stone, southeastern Pennsylvania, Pa. | $28.95 | $37 | – | – | $15 |
| Remington Mulch, Northern Virginia, Va. | $30 | $42 | – | $50 | $42 |
| Gaston Mulch, Gainesville area, Fla. | $22 | $28 | – | – | – |
| Cummin Landscape Supply, Atlanta area, Ga. | $48.50 | $42 | – | – | – |
| Piedmont Landscape Materials, Concord, N.C. | $33 | $40 | – | $45 | – |
| Taylor’s Landscape Supply, Summerville, S.C. | $38 | $45 | – | $42 | – |
| Mulch Center, Deerfield, Ill. | $38–$45 | $51 | $57 | $99 | $18 |
| McCarty Mulch & Stone, Indianapolis, Ind. | $32.50 | $42 | $48 | – | $32 |
| Suburban Landscape Supply, Walled Lake, Mich. | $37 | $41 | $46.50 | $56 | – |
| KDCO, Medina, Minn. | $35.99 | $43.99 | $85.79 | – | $23.99 |
| Plaisted Companies, Elk River, Minn. | $42.95 | $42.95 | $99.95 | – | – |
| Mr. Mulch, Columbus, Ohio | $39–$52 | $54 | – | – | – |
| Ohio Mulch, Columbus area, Ohio | $41.99 | $49.99 | – | – | – |
| Fertile Ground, Oklahoma City, Okla. | $50 | – | – | – | – |
| Cheaper Than Dirt Landscape Supply, Belton, Texas | $50 | $55 | $45 | – | – |
| Farr’s Landscape Supply, Nolanville, Texas | $45 | $50 | $45 | – | – |
| Texas Garden Materials, Houston, Texas | – | – | $49.99 | – | – |
| Sequoia Landscape Materials, Santa Rosa, Calif. | – | $61 | – | $47.95–$73 | $25 |
| Bedrock Landscaping Material, Denver area, Colo. | $44 | $49 | $95 | $105 | – |
| Direct Landscape Supply, Denver area, Colo. | $41 | $44 | $90 | $90 | – |
| Portland Rock & Landscape Supply, Portland/Gresham, Ore. | – | – | $48 | $46–$62 | – |
| BioGrass, Salt Lake City area, Utah | $58 | $46 | – | $69 | – |
| Sky Nursery, Shoreline, Wash. | – | – | $68 | $42 | – |
Why mulch prices differ by region
Mulch is a byproduct of whatever the local wood industry processes, so the cheapest material changes by region. Hardwood is cheap where it is milled; bark is cheap where conifers are; and anything that has to ride a truck a long way picks up freight cost.
| Region (sellers) | Natural, median per yd | Dyed, median per yd | What is cheap there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast: Mass., N.Y., N.J., Pa. (6) | $25.50 | $37.25 | Natural hardwood ($20 to $28.95 on Long Island, in N.J. and Pa.) and wood chips ($15 to $20) |
| Mid-Atlantic: Va. (1) | $30 | $42 | Plain wood mulch; pine fines cost more ($50) |
| Southeast: N.C., S.C., Ga., Fla. (4) | $35.50 | $41 | Pine bark and nuggets ($42 to $45), cypress ($32 to $48), pine straw by the bale; hardwood as low as $22 in north central Florida |
| Midwest: Ill., Ohio, Mich., Ind., Minn. (7) | $41.50 | $43.99 | Hardwood and dyed hardwood; cedar is shipped in and costs $46.50 to $99.95 |
| South Central: Texas, Okla. (4) | $50 | $52.50 | Native cedar ($45 to $49.99), cheaper than local hardwood |
| West: Colo., Utah, Ore., Wash., Calif. (6) | $44 | $47.50 | Fir and hemlock bark in the Northwest ($42 to $62); chip mulches in California ($25 arbor mulch) |
The Texas result surprises people. Hardwood mulch at two central Texas yards costs $45 to $55 a yard, more than in New Jersey, while cedar, which one Houston yard says is ground from native Texas Hill Country trees (Texas Garden Materials, $49.99), costs the same or less. If you live in Texas or Oklahoma, cedar is often the value pick rather than the premium one. In the Pacific Northwest the default “barkdust” is fir or hemlock: Portland Rock lists medium fir bark at $46 a yard and dark hemlock at $62.
How much is a bag of mulch, and is bulk cheaper?
A 2-cubic-foot bag of shredded, dyed, pine bark or cypress mulch costs about $3.95 to $5.55 at the supply yards that post bag prices, and specialty bark bags run $7.99 to $14.99. Per cubic yard, that is $53 to $77 for ordinary bagged mulch, compared with $31 to $49 for the same material loose.
Cypress is cheap by the bag, but bagged cypress is mostly young sapwood that termites eat; the trade-offs are laid out in our cypress mulch pros and cons.
Bags to yards: the formula
Bags per cubic yard = 27 ÷ bag size in cubic feet. Price per yard = bag price × bags per yard.
Worked example: 2-cubic-foot bags at $5.00 each. 27 ÷ 2 = 13.5 bags per yard. 13.5 × $5.00 = $67.50 per yard. For 1.5-cubic-foot bags, it takes 18 bags; for 3-cubic-foot bags, 9.
| Seller, location | Bagged product | Bag price | Bags per yard | Cost per yard in bags | Same seller’s bulk price per yard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bzak, Cincinnati | Dyed mulch, 2 cu ft | $3.95 | 13.5 | $53.33 | not posted |
| Bzak, Cincinnati | Hardwood bark, 1.5 cu ft | $3.49 | 18 | $62.82 | not posted |
| Mr. Mulch, Columbus | Natural brown double shredded, 2 cu ft | $5.00 | 13.5 | $67.50 | $39 |
| Mr. Mulch, Columbus | Dyed black double shredded, 2 cu ft | $5.40 | 13.5 | $72.90 | $54 (triple shredded) |
| Remington Mulch, Northern Va. | Wood mulch, 3 cu ft | $7.50 | 9 | $67.50 | $30 |
| Remington Mulch, Northern Va. | Black colorized, 3 cu ft | $8.50 | 9 | $76.50 | $42 |
| Mr. Mulch, Columbus | Pine bark mulch, 2 cu ft | $5.55 | 13.5 | $74.93 | not posted |
| Mr. Mulch, Columbus | Cypress, 2 cu ft | $5.50 | 13.5 | $74.25 | not posted |
| Bzak, Cincinnati | Cedar, 2 cu ft | $4.95 | 13.5 | $66.83 | not posted |
| Sky Nursery, Shoreline, Wash. | Medium fine bark, 2 cu ft | $7.99 | 13.5 | $107.87 | $42 |
| Sky Nursery, Shoreline, Wash. | Cedar play chips, 2 cu ft | $9.99 | 13.5 | $134.87 | $68 |
At the same counter, bags cost 1.7 to 2.6 times the bulk price. A Minnesota yard, KDCO, makes the same point with sale-price math: at 3 bags for $10, you need 18 of its comparison bags to make a yard, or $59.94, against $35.99 for its natural mulch loose.
Is it cheaper to buy mulch by the yard or by the bag?
By the yard, almost always, if you can pick it up yourself: $31 to $49 loose against $53 to $77 in bags. Delivery changes the answer for small jobs. Paying a $60 to $150 delivery fee on 2 yards makes bulk cost about the same as bags. At the midpoints of our ranges, delivered bulk becomes cheaper than bags at about 4 yards, and the gap widens with every yard after that (see the cost-by-size chart below).
Bags still win in a few cases: you need a yard or less, you have no driveway for a dump truck, you want a specialty product the local yard doesn’t carry, or a spring promotion pulls the bag price down. A 2-cubic-foot bag on a “5 for $10” deal costs $2, which is $27 a yard, cheaper than most bulk mulch.
Mulch delivery cost
Most yards charge a flat fee per truckload, set by distance or delivery zone, not by the number of yards. The posted fees we found run from $40 for a load under a mile to $250 for the farthest zone, and the middle half of the posted minimum and maximum fees falls between $60 and $150.
| Seller, location | How delivery is priced | Posted fee | Minimums and extras |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland Rock, Portland, Ore. | By road miles | $40 (under 1 mile) to $170 (23 to 24.9 miles) | Small truck holds 5 yd of bark, standard dump 7.5 yd; large truck (15 yd) adds $90; over 25 miles $110 an hour, $165 minimum |
| Conestoga Stone, southeastern Pa. | Per mile, one way | $6.75 a mile (6 miles = $40.50) | Over 30 miles, call; one dump per standard delivery |
| T.W. Nickerson, Cape Cod, Mass. | By town | $40 (Chatham, Harwich) to $250 (Falmouth, Sandwich) | No minimum; trucks of 6, 10 or 25 yd; tailgate service $10 |
| Bzak, Cincinnati | By ZIP code | $55 to $115 | 3 yd minimum bulk, 42 bags (2 cu ft) for bagged; $2 a mile round trip outside the area |
| Suburban Landscape Supply, Walled Lake, Mich. | By zone | $99.50 to $159.50 | Also sells 5 yd of hardwood delivered for $275 to $335 |
| Fertile Ground, Oklahoma City | By distance | From $85 within 5 miles | Pickup also available |
| Piedmont Landscape Materials, Concord, N.C. | By area | From $50 | Call to confirm the area rate |
| Mulch and Stuff, Ormond Beach, Fla. | By load size | $70 (3 yd or more), $90 (2 yd) | Extra dumps $35 each; leaving a hard surface $65 a move; delays $120 an hour |
| Panhandle Palm & Rock, Navarre, Fla. | By town | From $95 (Navarre) to from $175 (Destin) | Rates rise with distance |
| Sky Nursery, Shoreline, Wash. | Built into a delivered price per yard | $15 a yard over pickup (bark $42 pickup, $57 delivered) | 10 yd minimum, so at least $150 |
| Hawkins, suburban Md. and D.C. | Free delivery, built into price | $0 (double shredded hardwood $46 to $48 a yard delivered) | Online ordering |
| Kirk Allen, Stanhope, N.J. | By town | Town rate plus $25 fuel charge | Fuel charge applies to every delivery |
Source: Portland Rock & Landscape Supply, 2026 delivery rates Miles by truck route. Standard trucks carry 5 to 7.5 yards of bark; large truck adds $90.
Show the numbers
| Delivery fee per load | |
|---|---|
| 0.1-0.9 | 40 |
| 1-1.9 | 50 |
| 2-2.9 | 60 |
| 3-3.9 | 70 |
| 4-4.9 | 75 |
| 5-5.9 | 80 |
| 6-6.9 | 85 |
| 7-8.9 | 95 |
| 9-10.9 | 105 |
| 11-12.9 | 115 |
| 13-14.9 | 120 |
| 15-16.9 | 125 |
| 17-18.9 | 135 |
| 19-20.9 | 145 |
| 21-22.9 | 155 |
| 23-24.9 | 170 |
Three things follow from flat per-load pricing. First, order everything in one trip: a second load doubles the fee, and a split load (two products in one truck) usually costs a small surcharge instead, $20 at Portland Rock and $35 at Mulch Center. Second, small orders are expensive per yard: a $100 fee adds $100 to a 1-yard order but $10 a yard to a 10-yard order. Third, minimums are common (3 yards at Bzak, 10 at Sky Nursery’s delivered price), so ask before you plan a 1-yard delivery.
Is it cheaper to buy mulch by the truckload?
Yes, per yard. The truck fee is fixed, so the delivered cost per yard falls as the load grows. At $31 to $49 a yard plus a $60 to $150 fee, 3 yards delivered average $51 to $99 a yard and 10 yards $37 to $64. Few of the price lists we checked posted volume discounts on the material itself, so the saving comes almost entirely from spreading the delivery fee.
Mulch installation cost per yard
Professional mulch installation costs about $56 to $106 per cubic yard for standard mulch by our estimate: $31 to $49 for the material plus $25 to $57 for spreading, with delivery on top. Bed prep (weeding, edging, removing old mulch) is usually billed separately by the hour.
The labor formula
Labor per cubic yard = loaded crew cost per hour ÷ cubic yards the crew spreads per hour.
Crew cost: one landscaping worker at the national median wage of $18.82 an hour and one first-line supervisor at $28.09 (BLS OEWS, May 2025) = $46.91. Wages are 76.9 percent of total compensation for private-industry service occupations (BLS ECEC, June 2026), so $46.91 ÷ 0.769 = $61.00 an hour with benefits. Add 25 to 40 percent for overhead and profit (our assumption): $76.25 to $85.40 per crew-hour.
Production: 1.5 to 3 cubic yards per crew-hour by wheelbarrow and rake into existing beds (our assumption; no public agency publishes a residential mulching rate). Worked example: $76.25 ÷ 3 = $25.42 a yard on an open, easy job; $85.40 ÷ 1.5 = $56.93 on a slow one with long carries and lots of plants. Rounded: $25 to $57 a yard.
| Mulch, professionally installed | Material per yd | Labor per yd | Installed per yd, before delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural (undyed) shredded | $31–$45 | $25–$57 | $56–$102 |
| Dyed black, brown or red | $40–$49 | $25–$57 | $65–$106 |
| Cedar | $47–$80 | $25–$57 | $72–$137 |
Published installation prices from supply yards sit inside that range. 83 Landscape Supply sells a supply, deliver and install service at $68 a cubic yard with a 5-yard minimum, spread about 2 inches thick, and charges $40 per worker-hour (its 2023 rate) for weeding and edging. Cheap Mulch in Woodstock, Ga., advertises $35 a yard installed including the mulch, plus a delivery charge, and says many competitors charge $60 to $75 a yard plus the mulch. Its price is the lowest we found; treat it as a floor, not a norm.
Local wages move the labor line. The median landscaping worker earns $15.21 an hour in Mississippi and $23.40 in Massachusetts (BLS OEWS, May 2025), about 19 percent below and 24 percent above the national median, and the labor line in our model moves with them. Pay by state and metro is broken down in our landscaper salary guide.
How much to charge to lay 10 yards of mulch
For 10 cubic yards, labor alone comes to about $250 to $570 by our model (roughly 3.3 to 6.7 crew-hours for two people). Add the material at cost or with a markup ($310 to $490 for standard mulch) and one delivery ($60 to $150), and a full-service bid lands around $620 to $1,210 before bed prep. Price weeding, edging and old-mulch removal as separate hourly lines so the customer sees them. If you run a crew, our guide to bidding landscaping jobs covers overhead and markup in more detail.
What 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 and 20 yards of mulch cost
Here are the four ways to buy the same amount of standard natural or dyed mulch, using the ranges above.
| Amount | Covers at 3 in. deep | Bagged (2 cu ft bags) | Bulk, you pick it up | Bulk, delivered | Delivered and installed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cubic yard | 108 sq ft | $53–$77 (13.5 bags) | $31–$49 | $91–$199 | $116–$256 |
| 2 cubic yards | 216 sq ft | $106–$154 (27 bags) | $62–$98 | $122–$248 | $172–$362 |
| 3 cubic yards | 324 sq ft | $159–$231 (40.5 bags) | $93–$147 | $153–$297 | $228–$468 |
| 5 cubic yards | 540 sq ft | $265–$385 (67.5 bags) | $155–$245 | $215–$395 | $340–$680 |
| 10 cubic yards | 1,080 sq ft | $530–$770 (135 bags) | $310–$490 | $370–$640 | $620–$1,210 |
| 20 cubic yards | 2,160 sq ft | $1,060–$1,540 (270 bags) | $620–$980 | $680–$1,130 | $1,180–$2,270 |
- Bagged (2 cu ft bags)
- Bulk, delivered
- Delivered and installed
Source: GIR estimate from posted prices, BLS OEWS May 2025 and BLS ECEC June 2026 Midpoints: bags $65/yd; bulk $40/yd + $105 delivery; installed $81/yd + $105. See method.
Show the numbers
| Bagged (2 cu ft bags) | Bulk, delivered | Delivered and installed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yd | 65 | 145 | 186 |
| 2 yd | 130 | 185 | 267 |
| 3 yd | 195 | 225 | 348 |
| 5 yd | 325 | 305 | 510 |
| 10 yd | 650 | 505 | 915 |
| 20 yd | 1,300 | 905 | 1,725 |
Five yards of mulch, the size of a typical front-and-side bed refresh, costs about $155 to $245 if you haul it, $215 to $395 delivered, and $340 to $680 delivered and spread. Delivered bulk and bags cross at about 4 yards: below it, bags or a trailer run to the yard usually cost less; above it, delivery wins.
Cheap mulch: the lowest-cost options
The cheapest mulch is free. ChipDrop connects gardeners with tree crews that want to dump a load nearby, and the gardener pays nothing; there is an optional paid tier that can speed up a delivery. ChipDrop says a load equals 130 to 270 bags of mulch (ChipDrop). The catch: you take whatever the crew is carrying, in one large pile, on the crew’s schedule rather than yours.
After free, the next cheapest are raw wood chips at supply yards ($15 to $25 a yard at most of the 9 sellers listing them, as low as $15 at Conestoga Stone and $18 at Mulch Center and Kirk Allen) and plain undyed shredded mulch in the Northeast and north central Florida ($20 to $28.95). Both look rougher than double-shredded or dyed mulch but work as well around trees and shrubs. Fresh chips are fine on top of the soil; the nitrogen tie-up extension services warn about happens when wood is mixed into soil, not laid on it (University of Maine Cooperative Extension).
Other ways to cut the bill: pick up instead of paying for delivery if you have a truck or trailer, combine your order with a neighbor’s to share one delivery fee, and skip dye if color doesn’t matter to you (at the 22 yards that sell both, dye adds a median $6.75 a yard and at most $12). Fallen leaves are a free mulch, too; Clemson’s Home and Garden Information Center recommends a 2- to 3-inch layer, coarsely shredded so it doesn’t blow away or mat (Clemson HGIC). If you pay to have leaves hauled away, our leaf removal cost guide shows what you would save.
Whether black, brown or red costs more at the same yard, and what the dye and the wood under it are made of, is covered in our mulch colors guide.
Pine straw and rubber mulch prices
Neither is sold by the cubic yard, which makes comparison shopping harder.
| Product | Seller, location | Posted price | Per cubic yard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine straw, bale | American Landscape Supply Co., Cary, N.C. | $5.50 a bale | n/a |
| Pine straw (pine needles), bale | Mr. Mulch, Columbus, Ohio | $17.50 a bale | n/a |
| Long-needle pine straw roll (about 2 to 2.5 bales, 90 to 110 sq ft) | Cummin Landscape Supply, Atlanta area | $13 a roll | n/a |
| Pine straw roll | Taylor’s Landscape Supply, Summerville, S.C. | $13.99 a roll | n/a |
| Rubber nugget mulch, pallet of 50 bags (75 cu ft) | Mr. Mulch, Columbus, Ohio | $855 (special order) | $307.80 |
| Rubber mulch, painted black, 2,000 lb sack (77 cu ft) | Rubbermulch.com, ships nationally | $779, liftgate delivery included | $273.16 |
Pine straw is a Southeast staple and the price follows the freight: $5.50 a bale near the North Carolina Sandhills, $17.50 in Ohio. Bales aren’t standardized. North Carolina State Extension notes that bale length runs 24 to 30 inches and dry weight 8 to 25 pounds depending on the producer (NC State Extension), so compare coverage claims, not bale counts. Rubber mulch costs about 6 to 8 times as much per yard as standard wood mulch. It doesn’t decompose, which is the case for it under swings, and the case against it in planting beds, where wood mulch feeds the soil as it breaks down.
Our rubber mulch pros and cons guide sets the playground depths, burn tests and zinc data behind that trade-off side by side.
How far a yard goes, and how deep to spread it
One cubic yard covers 324 square feet at 1 inch deep. Divide 324 by your depth in inches: 162 square feet at 2 inches, 108 at 3 inches, 81 at 4 inches. Worked example: a 400-square-foot bed at 3 inches needs 400 × 3 ÷ 324 = 3.7 yards. (Measuring beds and ordering the right amount gets its own guide, coming soon.) A yard of bark or wood mulch weighs roughly 400 to 500 pounds, according to Sky Nursery and Cummin.
Depth drives cost more than material choice. Penn State Extension recommends 2 to 4 inches of organic mulch around trees, and only 1 to 2 inches of finely textured or double-shredded mulch (Penn State Extension). The University of Maryland Extension suggests 1 to 3 inches of bark and keeping mulch about 3 inches from tree trunks (UMD Extension). Spreading 4 inches instead of 2 doubles the bill and, around trees, can harm the roots.
What is the 3-3-3 rule for mulch?
It is a rule of thumb for mulching trees: about 3 inches deep, in a ring at least 3 feet across, kept 3 inches back from the trunk. It lines up with extension advice: Maryland’s 3-inch trunk gap and Penn State’s 2-to-4-inch depth. Penn State calls mulch piled against the trunk “volcano” mulching and says it is never recommended.
Red flags in a mulch quote
- “Scoops” or “loads” instead of cubic yards. Ask how many cubic yards a scoop or truckload holds. Truck capacities on the price lists we checked ran from 5 to 25 yards of mulch.
- Bag counts without bag sizes. Bags come in 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 cubic feet. Twenty 1.5-cubic-foot bags are 1.1 yards; twenty 3-cubic-foot bags are 2.2.
- An installed price with no depth. A quote that doesn’t name the depth can be met by spreading thin. One installer in our sample states a 2-inch minimum and refuses to “dust” beds; ask for the same in writing.
- Bed prep folded into one number. Weeding, edging and removing old mulch are real labor. Ask for them as separate lines so you can compare quotes.
- Dyed mulch of unknown origin. Extension specialists say there is no evidence the dyes are toxic, but recommend knowing the wood source and avoiding mulch made from recycled wood that includes pressure-treated lumber (UMaine Extension, quoting UMass). Ask the yard what the dyed product is made from.
- Mulch piled against trunks. If a crew’s past work shows volcano mulching, expect it on your trees too.
Mulching alone rarely needs a license, but if the same company will also apply weed control or fertilizer, check its credentials first; our guide on how to check a landscaper’s license shows where to look. For a whole-yard budget, see how much landscaping costs.
How we built these numbers
We have no job data of our own. Every figure is either a posted price, a government statistic or arithmetic on those, with three stated assumptions (crew production, overhead and profit, and the midpoints used in the charts). Prices were checked October 18, 2026, from a Google results pull on October 15, 2026, plus searches for regional supply yards.
Material. We recorded 133 posted mulch listings from 32 sellers in 22 states (28 supply yards with bulk pickup prices, plus bag, pine straw and rubber sellers). We grouped products into types; where a seller lists several products in one type (for example three dyed colors at different prices), we used that seller’s median, so each seller counts once. Middle-half ranges are the 25th to 75th percentiles across sellers, rounded to whole dollars. Natural: $31.25 to $44.50 (n = 23). Dyed: $39.75 to $49.25 (n = 24). Cedar: $47.25 to $80.40 (n = 15). Pine bark: $42.75 to $54.50 (n = 6). Fir, hemlock and redwood bark: $47 to $69 (n = 9). Wood chips: $18 to $25 (n = 9). Playground chips: $40.75 to $50.50 (n = 15). Cypress: $41.75 to $48.50 (n = 4). Bagged prices were converted at 27 cubic feet per yard; Taylor’s half-yard prices were doubled. Sale prices are recorded as posted and flagged in the CSV.
Delivery. The $60 to $150 range is the middle half of 14 posted minimum and maximum delivery fees from 8 sellers with flat, zone or distance fees (25th percentile $58.75, 75th $148.38, rounded). The full posted range is $40 to $250.
Labor. One landscaping worker ($18.82) and one supervisor ($28.09) at May 2025 OEWS national medians, divided by 0.769 for benefits (ECEC, June 2026) = $61.00 an hour; plus 25 to 40 percent overhead and profit (assumption) = $76.25 to $85.40; divided by 1.5 to 3 cubic yards per crew-hour (assumption) = $25 to $57 a yard. Cross-checked against two published installed prices ($35 and $68 a yard including material).
Totals and charts. Size table: yards × per-yard range, plus one delivery fee where noted. The cost-by-size chart uses midpoints: bags $65 a yard; bulk $40 a yard plus $105 delivery; installed $81 a yard plus $105. Bulk delivered equals bags where 40 × yards + 105 = 65 × yards, at 4.2 yards.
Calculator. Cubic yards × the per-yard range for the option chosen × the overage factor, plus a delivery fee and optional bed-prep hours (2 to 4 labor-hours at the $40 rate one installer posts).
Limits. Thirty-two sellers can’t represent every market, regional samples are small, and posted prices exclude sales tax, fuel surcharges and promotions. Big-box retail prices are not included because the retailer pages blocked automated checks and change by store. Residential mulching production rates are not published by any agency we could find, so labor is the least certain line. See our methodology for how we source cost estimates.
Mulch price questions
How far does 1 yard of mulch cover?
One cubic yard covers 324 square feet at 1 inch deep, 162 at 2 inches, 108 at 3 inches and 81 at 4 inches. Divide 324 by the depth in inches. At the 3-inch depth most beds get, budget one yard per 100 square feet or so.
How many bags of mulch equal 1 yard?
13.5 bags of the common 2-cubic-foot size. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it also takes 18 bags of 1.5 cubic feet or 9 bags of 3 cubic feet. Check the bag size before you compare prices.
How much does one bag of mulch cost?
At the supply yards that post bag prices, a 2-cubic-foot bag of shredded or dyed mulch costs $3.95 to $5.55, a 1.5-cubic-foot bag $3.49 to $5.40 and a 3-cubic-foot bag $7.50 to $8.50. Specialty bark and cedar bags run $7.99 to $14.99 for 2 cubic feet.
Is it cheaper to buy mulch by the truckload?
Yes. Delivery is a flat fee per load ($60 to $150 at most of the yards we checked), so every extra yard on the same truck lowers the cost per yard. Ten yards delivered cost about $37 to $64 a yard; three yards, $51 to $99.
Who has mulch on sale 5 for $10?
Multi-bag deals like 5 for $10 are seasonal promotions, usually on 2-cubic-foot bags of basic mulch at home centers and garden stores in spring. Prices vary by store and week, so we don't list them. At $2 a bag, the deal works out to $27 a cubic yard, cheaper than most bulk mulch.
Who's got the cheapest mulch right now?
In our October 2026 sample, the cheapest posted bulk prices were wood chips at $15 a yard (Conestoga Stone, Pa.), natural mulch at $20 (Got Mulch, Long Island) and $22 (Gaston Mulch, Fla.), and dyed mulch at $28 (T.W. Nickerson, Mass.; Gaston Mulch). Free arborist chips through ChipDrop cost nothing if you can take a whole load.
Will Home Depot deliver bags of mulch for free?
We couldn't confirm current terms: Home Depot's and Lowe's pages blocked our automated checks. Delivery rules and thresholds change by store and order size, so check the cart before you buy. Supply yards that deliver bags set minimums, for example 42 bags at Bzak in Cincinnati.
What is the correct way to lay mulch?
Weed and edge the bed, then spread mulch evenly to the depth extension services recommend: 2 to 4 inches of coarse organic mulch, or 1 to 2 inches of fine or double-shredded mulch (Penn State Extension). Keep it about 3 inches away from tree trunks and stems, never piled up in a cone (University of Maryland Extension). Rake it level and water it in.
If mulch keeps blowing or washing out of a bed, compare a spray binder before reordering: our mulch glue guide works out label rates at $31 to $123 per 100 sq ft, against $9.57 to $15.12 for a fresh inch of bulk mulch.
What do you put down before laying mulch?
Usually nothing but cleared, weeded soil: pull weeds, edge the bed, then spread. University of Illinois Extension warns that landscape fabric under mulch suppresses weeds for only a couple of years, clogs with sediment and can do more harm than good to plants, and suggests a thicker layer of wood mulch instead on new beds.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 37-3011 and 37-1012, national and state, May 2025. Accessed October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, Table 4, June 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Penn State Extension, Mulching Landscape Trees, accessed October 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- University of Maryland Extension, Mulching Trees and Shrubs, accessed October 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, Mulch, accessed October 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Is black mulch harmful to plants? Is the dye in the mulch toxic?, June 2022. Accessed October 2026.
- NC State Extension, Managing Longleaf Pine Straw, accessed October 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- University of Illinois Extension, The disadvantages of landscape fabric, June 2021. Accessed October 2026.
- ChipDrop, Is ChipDrop really free?, accessed October 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- ChipDrop, Free Wood Chips for Gardeners, accessed October 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Portland Rock & Landscape Supply, 2026 Retail Price List, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Portland Rock & Landscape Supply, 2026 Delivery Rates and Truck Capacity Limits, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Sky Nursery, Bulk Material Price List, rev. March 9, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Sky Nursery, Bagged Material Price List, rev. May 20, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- 83 Landscape Supply, Mulch Installation Service, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Cheap Mulch, Installation Cost, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Mulch Center, Mulches; Delivery Information, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Mulch Center, Delivery Information, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Ohio Mulch, Bulk Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Mr. Mulch, Mulch (bulk) and Bagged Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Mr. Mulch, Bagged Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Bzak Landscaping, Bagged Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Bzak Landscaping, Bagged/Bulk Product Delivery, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Suburban Landscape Supply, Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Suburban Landscape Supply, Delivery Zones, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- McCarty Mulch & Stone, Landscaping Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Plaisted Companies, Landscape Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- KDCO, Mulch & Wood Chips, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- T.W. Nickerson, Cape Cod Bark Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- T.W. Nickerson, Delivery Charges, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Southridge Farm & Nursery, Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Got Mulch, Bulk Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Kirk Allen Landscape Supply, Mulches, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Peach Country Tractor, Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Conestoga Stone, Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Conestoga Stone, Delivery, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Remington Mulch, Order Online, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Hawkins Landscape Supply, Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Piedmont Landscape Materials, Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- American Landscape Supply Co., Pine Straw (Bale), checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Taylor's Landscape Supply, Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Taylor's Landscape Supply, Pinestraw, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Cummin Landscape Supply, Mulch & Soil, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Gaston Mulch, Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Mulch and Stuff, Delivery Terms, Fees and Policies, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Panhandle Palm & Rock, Delivery Options, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Texas Garden Materials, Cedar Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Cheaper Than Dirt Landscape Supply, Pricing, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Farr's Landscape Supply, Sand & Mulch, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Fertile Ground, Mulch, per cubic yard, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Bedrock Landscaping Material, Barks & Mulches, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Direct Landscape Supply, Mulch & Bark, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- BioGrass, Mulch & Bark, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Sequoia Landscape Materials, Price List, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
- Rubbermulch.com, Playsafer Rubber Mulch, 2,000 lb, checked October 18, 2026. Accessed October 2026.
