Landscaping & Aggregates calculators
Mulch, gravel, topsoil, sod, seed, pavers and wall block.
- Mulch CalculatorBags, or yards if bulk is cheaper
- Topsoil CalculatorSoil for lawns, beds and raised beds
- Raised Bed Soil CalculatorSoil volume, bags, and what to blend
- Sod CalculatorPallets and rolls, plus the soil underneath
- Grass Seed CalculatorSeed by grass type, plus starter fertilizer
- Gravel CalculatorYards, tons and bags for any depth
- Paver CalculatorPavers, base gravel, sand and edging
- Retaining Wall CalculatorBlocks, caps, base gravel and drainage
What is in this category
Eight calculators for everything that arrives loose, by the yard or on a pallet. Mulch, gravel and topsoil for beds and paths. Sod and grass seed for lawns. Raised bed soil for growing. Pavers and retaining wall block for hard landscaping.
Depth is the measurement people guess
Indoors you measure two dimensions. Out here you almost always need three, because loose material is sold by volume — and the third one is the one that gets estimated.
That matters more than it sounds. Plan for two inches of mulch and spread it at three, and you are 50% short before you finish the first bed. The error is proportional, not marginal. Decide the depth before you order, write it down next to the area, and check it with a stick as you spread.
- Mulch — 2 to 3 inches to suppress weeds, 3 to 4 for a fresh bed.
- Gravel paths — 2 to 3 inches over a compacted base.
- Paver base — 4 to 6 inches of compacted gravel plus an inch of bedding sand for a patio, more for a driveway.
- Topsoil for a new lawn — 3 to 6 inches over what is already there.
Bags or bulk
The crossover is around one cubic yard — 27 cubic feet, or about fourteen of the standard 2 cu ft mulch bags. Below that, bags are convenient and the price difference does not cover a delivery fee. Above it, bulk wins on both, usually by a wide margin.
Bulk comes with its own work. It arrives as a pile on the driveway and moves by wheelbarrow — roughly fifteen loads to the cubic yard — and it cannot sit there in the rain for a week. Most suppliers also have a minimum order.
Season matters more out here
Indoor jobs happen whenever you have a weekend. Landscaping has windows, and missing one usually means paying twice.
Cool-season grass goes down in late summer to early autumn — warm soil, cooling air, falling weed pressure. Warm-season grass wants late spring. Sod can be laid through most of the growing season but needs daily water for the first fortnight. Concrete and mortar for hard landscaping need temperatures reliably above freezing while they cure.
If you have missed the window for seeding, wait for the next one. The seed keeps; a failed lawn does not.