How much shredded hardwood mulch do you need?
Measure the flower bed or tree ring you are covering. You get cubic yards, tons and truck loads of shredded hardwood mulch.
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How this was worked out
Assumes shredded hardwood mulch at 0.4 tons per cubic yard. Mulch weighs more when it is fresh or wet, so ask your supplier for their number.
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About shredded hardwood mulch
Shredded hardwood mulch is bark and wood from hardwood trees run through a grinder, often twice, into stringy pieces. The strands knit together as they settle, so it stays put on a gentle slope better than chunky bark does. Spread it 2 to 3 inches deep in beds and about 1 inch to refresh an old layer.
More about shredded hardwood mulch
Most of it comes from sawmill bark and tree work, ground once for a coarse mulch and a second time for a finer, more even texture sold as double ground. Some yards let the pile age for months before selling it. Aged mulch is darker and smells earthy; a fresh load is lighter brown and can smell sour if it sat wet and packed.
Pull weeds and edge the bed first, then spread 2 to 3 inches and keep it a hand's width back from stems and tree trunks. Mulch piled against the bark of a tree holds water there and invites rot and insects. Each spring, loosen the old layer with a rake and add about an inch on top rather than starting over.
A cubic yard covers about 108 square feet at 3 inches deep, or 162 square feet at 2 inches. To count bags instead of yards, use the Bagged calculator. Fresh mulch holds a lot of water, and a wet load weighs more than 0.4 tons a yard on the scale.