How Many Bags of Mulch On A Pallet? Full Pallets Vs Bulk

The beginning of the gardening season brings along some necessary tasks in the garden, like mulching. It may have you wondering, how many bags of mulch on a pallet? Is bagged mulch vs bulk mulch a better choice?  Let’s take a look to see what the options are for sourcing mulch for the vegetable garden. 

How Many Bags of Mulch on a Pallet?

Over the weekend, I found myself at my Home Depot in search of mulch, wondering how many bags of mulch on a pallet and if I needed that amount of mulch or wood chips for my vegetable garden. I found that the amount of bags varied with 60-70 bags of mulch on a pallet.  

What is the Standard Sized Mulch Bag?

A standard sized bag of mulch is 2 cubic feet of mulch.  The majority of mulch will come in bags this size, which is a good choice for easy handling. 

What Are Standard Pallet Sizes?

Knowing the size of a wooden pallet will help you determine if picking up a pallet of mulch is doable for your pickup truck of if a trailer is better suited. According to Freight Quote, “The standard pallet size is 48″x40″ with each deck board being 3 1/2″ wide by 5/16″ thick. Other pallet sizes may differ across industries, but the pallet described above, based on GMA standards, is the most common and makes up more than 30% of all pallets used in the United States.”

I can tell you this, those wrapped pallets of mulch at the garden centers are stacked pretty tall, with up to 70 bags of mulch on a pallet. 

How Much Do Bags of Mulch Cost?

My local garden centers were having a mulch sale over the weekend, 3 for $10, which was the bagged mulch that is available in colors, like black mulch or red mulch.  Since I’m using it in the vegetable garden, I wanted just plain old mulch, no color added.  I was please to find that regular cypress mulch was $2.97 a bag. I did see some bags of mulch that were upwards of $4.00 a bag. 

How Much Mulch Do I Need?

Knowing how many bags of mulch you need for your landscape bed or garden ahead of time will help you get it done efficiently. Start by measuring your garden space to find the square footage. You can then decide how thick you want your mulch layer.  Going somewhere between 2-4 inches thick will help you reap the many benefits of mulching your garden soil.

Mulch Calulator

Using this mulch calculator can help you accurately determine how much mulch you need for your project.  It will also help you determine the cost.

How Many Bags of Mulch on a Pallet Vs Loose Bulk Mulch

There are pros and cons to both bulk mulch and bagged mulch. Bagged mulch  tends to be slightly more expensive than bulk mulch.  I do however feel like it’s a little less labor intensive to spread, as you don’t have to shovel it all out of the the truck into a wheel barrow to spread around the garden. Let’s take a closer look at the comparison. 

How Many Bags of Mulch in a Cubic Yard?

A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.  There are 2 cubic feet of mulch in a bag of mulch. So that should give us 13.5 bags of mulch in a cubic yard of mulch, if you are working with 2 cubic foot bags.

How Many Cubic Yards Will Fit In My Truck?

Not all trucks are created equal, so you’ll have to consider the payload capacity, and how much does a scoop of mulch weigh. Most truck beds can safely carry a decent amount of bulk mulch. Your payload capacity can be figured out by subtracting your trucks curb weight from the GVWR to get the payload capacity. 

•  A standard full size truck with a 6 Ft. bed can carry 2 yards of mulch.
•  A standard full size truck with an 8 Ft. bed can carry 3 yards of mulch.

How Much Does A Scoop of Mulch Weigh?

Needing to know the weight of a scoop of mulch is important. On average, you can expect a yard of wood mulch to weigh around 800lbs. The weight of mulch will vary across different types of mulch. 

• 1 Yard Topsoil for Landscaping Projects = 2,000 Lbs (1 Ton)
• A Yard Mushroom Compost for Vegetable Gardens= 1,000 – 1,200 Lbs
• 1 Yard Garden Compost for Flower Bed or Vegetable Gardens= 800 Lbs
• A Yard Rubber Mulch = 800 Lbs
• 1 Scoop Sand = 2,500 Lbs

How Much Does A  Cubic Yard of Mulch Cost?

While local store prices will vary around the country, my local bulk mulch supplier is selling cubic yards of mulch for $35 a yard.  For bulk mulch, it doesn’t usually get cheaper than this. 

What’s The Better Deal, Bagged Mulch VS Bulk Mulch?

When it comes down to the cost differences for bagged mulch vs bulk mulch the price difference isn’t that much.  If there are 13.5 bags of mulch in a cubic yard multiplied by $2.97 a bag, that equals $40.09. Compared to $35 a cubic yard if you buy it in bulk.  So there is a slight cost savings, you just need to decide how you’d like to unload all that mulch. By that number of bags or by the shovel full?

Type of Mulch

While shopping for mulch you will find that there are many different mulch choices available.  From pine straw, pine bark mulch, grass clippings, cedar mulch, shredded mulches, to hardwood mulch there are huge differences in the type of mulch. Different types of mulch are better suited for certain applications. Bark Vs Mulch in the vegetable garden will help you decide what the best mulch is to use for your project. 

The Benefits of Using Mulch

Using mulch in the garden can create more of a lazy garden if you will, with less weeding and less watering. The benefits of mulching are worth the cost and time of spreading it throughout the a garden. There are 5 main benefits to using mulch.

• Suppress the Weed Growth With A Thick Layer of Mulch
• Maintains Soil Moisture IN Your Garden Area
• Regulate Soil Temperature With Proper Mulching
• Prevent Soil Erosion During A Heavy Rain With A Thick Layer of Mulch
• Adds to Soil Structure Overtime Making Necessary Nutrients Readily Available

How Many Bags of Mulch On A Pallet

After seeing the size of that wrapped, full pallet of mulch stacked 60-70 bags high, I decided that 30 bags would do my vegetable garden rows nicely.  With just a little bit of time in the afternoon, I was able to get all of my garden rows mulched and ready for the gardening season, by myself, with bagged mulch. Whereas last year, I went with bulk mulch. It took a lot more man hours to unload and spread. The savings on the cost of the mulch wasn’t big enough to sway me again this year. 

Happy Homesteading & Gardening,

Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm

Jenny and her family have been homesteading for over 20 years. They are currently farming on their 10 acre Florida farm, that they built from the ground up, 8 years ago, growing 100% of their meat and a lot of their vegetables. From their small herd of Aberdeen Angus Cattle, Pastured Poultry, Sheep, and seasonal pigs, they are able to raise enough meat for the family while selling extra to the community. All the while, striving to butcher at home, as much as possible, and use the bits and pieces of their harvest by preserving food, making bone broth, and (Jenny’s favorite) tanning all kinds of hides!