How to Measure for Mulching

Adding mulch to your gardens and under trees is a way to hold moisture within the soil. Mulch also helps prevent weed growth and supplies your plants with nutrients as it breaks down. Home improvement centers and hardware store sell mulch in bags that cover 2-foot or 3-foot increments. Before purchasing bags of mulch, it is important to measure your area correctly so that you bring home the correct number of bags. It is necessary to convert your square footage into cubic feet before making the trip to the store.

Tape measure
Pencil
Paper
Calculator

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the width of the area you want to cover with mulch with a tape measure and write the measurement down on a piece of paper. Once you have the width measurement, measure the length of the area. Write the length measurement down.
- 2
  Multiply the length by the width with a calculator. The resulting number is your total square feet. For example, a 6-by-6-foot plot contains a total of 36 square feet.
- 3
  Divide the depth you want for the mulch by 12. As an example, if you want a 3-inch depth, you would divide three by 12. The result is .25, or the fraction of a foot of measurement.
- 4
  Multiple the square footage amount by the depth fraction to arrive at the final amount of mulch needed. In the example, 36 square feet multiplied by .25 gives a result of 9 cubic feet.

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