Work out how much soil, mulch, sand, sod or seed your lawn and garden project needs before you order. Each calculator turns your measurements into the units suppliers sell in.
Soil, mulch and sand
- Topsoil calculator: topsoil, fill dirt, garden soil or compost for lawns, beds and low spots.
- Mulch calculator: cubic yards and bags of mulch for any bed, with a depth set for each mulch type.
- Sand calculator: sand for paver bedding, leveling bases and sandboxes, in tons and bags.
- Raised bed soil calculator: soil for one or more raised beds, plus how much of each mix ingredient to buy.
Lawn calculators
- Sod calculator: square feet, pieces or rolls, and pallets of sod for a new lawn.
- Grass seed calculator: pounds of seed for a new lawn or overseeding, by grass type.
- Artificial turf calculator: turf, seams, infill and base material for an artificial lawn.
Which calculator should I use?
| Your project | Calculator | Typical amount |
|---|---|---|
| New lawn, instant | Sod | Lawn area plus 5–10% |
| New lawn, from seed | Grass seed | 1–8 lb per 1,000 sq ft, by grass type |
| Thin lawn | Grass seed (overseeding) | About half the new-lawn rate |
| Soil under a new lawn | Topsoil | 4–6 in |
| Top-dressing an existing lawn | Topsoil | ¼–½ in |
| Raised garden bed | Raised bed soil | The height of the soil in the bed |
| Mulching beds and borders | Mulch | 2–4 in |
| Paver bedding layer | Sand | 1 in |
| Artificial grass | Artificial turf | Area plus trimming, 1–2 lb infill per sq ft |
Before you order
- Soil and mulch are usually sold by the cubic yard in bulk, and by cubic feet in bags. One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.
- Sod is sold by the square foot, piece or pallet. Ask your supplier how many square feet are on their pallets, because it varies.
- Grass seed blends differ, so check the seeding rate on the bag.
- See How We Calculate for the formulas, weights and seeding rates we use.