How Much Rubber Mulch Should I Buy?

The amount of rubber mulch you need depends on what you are using it for.   

• For landscaping the recommendation is to cover the ground 1.5" to 2" deep and to not exceed this depth in areas with flowers, plants, or trees.  
• For playgrounds the recommendation for residential use is to cover the ground a minimum of 3" deep with rubber mulch.  Many homeowners opt to put more though as it will increase the safety level.  Commercial and school playgrounds often use 6" of depth.  For commercial use please consult with a landscape architect and your local ordinances to ensure compliance.

So, now how much do I need to buy?

You will find different calculators and advice out there and unfortunately there is not a standard when it comes to determining how to calculate the total volume for your applications. 

The easiest way to calculate is to know the area of what you are looking to cover:

• For example, if you have a rectangular or square garden bed you will need the length x width to get the area. 
• For triangles the area is 1/2 x base x height. 
• And for a circle the area is (π x Radius) squared. 
• If you have multiple areas to cover you will need to find the area of each section and then add them together which will give you the total area. 
• If you have an odd shape you will need to divide it in to multiple sections.  Each section should be a shape where you can easily find the area of that shape.  Then you will need to add each section together to get the total area.
• If you have rounded shapes you can approximate them to rectangles and just take the length and width of them to get an approximate area.

Now that you know the depth you need and the area of what you need to cover, you can plug these numbers in to a mulch calculator.  For example, Rubber Mulch Warehouse has a mulch calculator on every product page like here.  Using the Rubber Mulch Warehouse calculator, the following is what 1 pallet (~77 cu ft, ~2,000 lbs.) of rubber mulch will cover:

We do no recommend using your past wood mulch purchase volume to determine how much rubber mulch you will need because wood mulch comes in different densities and has different coverage ratios, depending on what type of wood mulch it is and where you live.