Compost Coverage
A one cubic foot bag of compost covers:
- 12 square feet at 1 inch thickness
- 6 square feet at 2 inches thickness
To cover a 200 square foot area, you would need:
- About eight 50 liter bags of mulch
- Approximately twenty 70 liter bags for one cubic meter
Bag sizes and weights:
- Standard bag: 1 cubic foot, 35 to 40 pounds
- Organic compost may come in 1.5 cubic foot bags
- A 40 liter bag weighs 15 to 18 kg
- A 20 kg bag covers 1.1 square meters at 10 mm depth
- Five liters of compost weighs about 3.3 kg dry and 0.3 kg wet
- A 50 liter bag weighs 10 to 12 kg
Bulk Compost Calculation
How many bags of compost equal 1 yard?
- Bulk compost weighs 800 to 1,200 pounds per cubic yard
- Multiply cubic yards needed by 27 for the number of 1 cubic foot bags needed
- 27 1 cubic foot bags or 18 1.5 cubic foot bags of mulch per yard
- A 1⁄2 cubic foot bag of stone or soil weighs about 50 lbs and covers 2 square feet at 3" deep
Compost Weight Considerations
Bulk compost averages:
- 800 lbs dry weight per cubic yard
- 1500 lbs when wet
On average, one cubic yard of compost weighs 1250 lbs (567 kg), which is a 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet cube. One ton of compost is about seven cubic yards.
Additional Notes
- The average bulk price per cubic yard is $13 to $35 depending on content.
- If buying mulch in 1 cubic foot bags, there are 54 bags of stone or soil per 1 cubic yard.
- The equivalent of 27 bags of organic compost can be found in a 1 yard tote, which is made from 100% organic material and contains no chemicals or harmful substances.
- Depending on moisture level, use 2 to 2.5 cubic yards of compost per ton.
The Compost Coverage Chart indicates 14 bags are needed per 100 sq. ft. at 1" depth.