How many bags of mulch are in a yard?

One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet: 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft, 9 bags of 3 cu ft, or 18 bags of 1.5 cu ft.

Cubic yards	Cubic feet	1.5 cu ft bags	2 cu ft bags	3 cu ft bags
0.5	13.5	9	6.8	4.5
1	27	18	13.5	9
1.5	40.5	27	20.3	13.5
2	54	36	27	18
3	81	54	40.5	27
4	108	72	54	36
5	135	90	67.5	45
6	162	108	81	54
8	216	144	108	72
10	270	180	135	90

From your beds to bags

Estimates. Bag sizes, material density and settling vary; confirm quantities with your supplier.

Good to know

Bagged mulch is sold by volume, most often in 2 and 3 cubic foot bags. Bulk mulch is sold by the cubic yard. Divide 27 by the bag size to convert: that is all the chart does.

Bags hold a little less than the label after shipping and settling, so round up. For a delivery, add about 10% for uneven ground.

To go the other way, the calculator below takes the size of your beds and the depth you want and gives yards and bags at once.

The arithmetic

Volume is area times depth. With the area in square feet and the depth in inches, multiply them and divide by 12 for cubic feet, then by 27 for cubic yards. A bag count is the cubic feet divided by the bag size, rounded up.

Questions

How many 2 cubic foot bags are in a yard?

Thirteen and a half. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, and 27 divided by 2 is 13.5, so buy 14 bags to cover one full yard.

How many 3 cubic foot bags are in a yard?

Nine. 27 divided by 3 is exactly 9.

Is a half yard enough for my bed?

Half a cubic yard is 13.5 cubic feet. At 3 inches deep that covers 54 square feet, a bed about 9 by 6 feet; at 2 inches, 81 square feet.

Typical values from these university extension guides: