An easy-to-use calculator to help you plan how much mulch you will need. You can use lots of different materials as mulch, for example wood chips, bark, leaves, grass clippings, straw, hay, compost, pine needles, newspaper, cardboard, cocoa shells, seaweed, shredded prunings, sawdust, wood shavings, peat, gravel, stone, pebbles, slate, rubber chips, landscape fabric, plastic sheeting, living mulch (ground covers), mushroom compost, aged manure, coffee grounds, wool, hops waste, nut shells, and rice hulls.
Learn more about using mulch in our how-to.
The amount (depth) of mulch you use will depend on what your site is like, the moisture retention of your soil, if you are laying down an inital layer of paper/cardboard first, whether you will be encouraging or discouraging plants from growing up through the mulch, how often you want to replace/add to the mulch, and the cost.
See detailed advice about different types of mulch and ideal depths in the Variations section of our mulching how-to article.