Landscape Material Calculator

The math, in the open

How the calculation works

Bulk landscape material is sold by the cubic yard, but you measure your yard in feet and inches. The conversion is one line of arithmetic, and the calculator above simply does it for you:

Square feet × depth in inches ÷ 324 = cubic yards.

The 324 comes from the size of a cubic yard. One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, and spread one inch deep it covers 324 square feet. So a patio area of 20 ft × 15 ft is 300 square feet; at 3 inches deep that is 300 × 3 ÷ 324, or about 2.8 cubic yards. Our delivery minimum is 3 cubic yards, so that job would go out as a 3 yard load.

What one cubic yard covers

Straight arithmetic, before settling and compaction. Loose material always measures a little deeper on the truck than it does once it is spread and walked on.

Depths people commonly use

Depth changes the quantity more than anything else, and it is where most orders go wrong. As a general starting point for Southwest Florida yards:

• Mulch in beds: commonly 2 to 3 inches. Deeper holds moisture but can hold too much against stems.
• Topping up an existing shell or gravel surface: commonly 1 to 2 inches, because you are refreshing depth rather than rebuilding.
• A new gravel or shell surface: usually a compacted base with a finish layer over it, rather than one deep layer of loose material.
• Topsoil before sod: enough to give roots something to grow into over the sand, often a few inches.
• Filling and leveling: entirely site specific. Measure the deepest point and the shallowest, and use the average.

These are starting points, not specifications. Tell us the job and we will talk through the depth before you order.

Measuring an awkward shape

Split it into rectangles, calculate each one and add them up. For a circle, multiply the radius by itself and then by 3.14. For a long strip such as a path or a drain trench, length × width still works; just be honest about the width where it pinches in. If the ground dips, measure the depth in two or three places and use the average rather than the deepest point.

Should I round up?

Usually yes, slightly. Running a few square feet short at the end of a job costs more in time than the material saved, and material settles as it is spread and compacted. The calculator shows an optional 10% allowance separately so you can see both numbers and decide. Whole yards are simpler to deliver, so rounding to the next full yard is normal.