What mulch actually does
A 2-3 inch layer of mulch is the cheapest thing you can do for a bed in Texas. It holds moisture in the soil so you water less, blocks weed seeds from germinating, keeps soil temperatures more stable through 100-degree summers and the surprise February freezes, and slowly breaks down to feed the soil. It also makes the bed look finished. Five yards of mulch over a Saturday is the difference between a yard that looks like work-in-progress and one that looks like somebody lives there.
We sell mulch by the cubic yard, loaded onto your trailer or delivered across south DFW. One cubic yard covers roughly 100 square feet at 3 inches deep — that's a useful number to memorize. A typical front-yard bed is 200-300 sq ft, so most homeowners take 2-3 yards.
Which mulch is right for you
Picking mulch is mostly about how the bed will look, how long the look has to hold, and whether you have kids, dogs, or termites to think about.
Hardwood (Premium Native Tree Mulch)
Triple-ground native hardwoods. It's our best-seller because it's the workhorse — neutral brown, ages to gray, doesn't fade dramatically. Holds moisture well, breaks down at a moderate rate, refreshes the soil as it goes. If you're not sure what to get, get hardwood. Good for vegetable gardens, around trees, foundation plantings.
Cedar (Aromatic Cedar Mulch)
Texas-cut cedar. Slightly more expensive than hardwood, lighter color, and it smells like a sauna for the first week. The natural oils in cedar repel some insects (not termites — that's a myth either way) and it breaks down slower than hardwood, so you can stretch the re-mulch cycle to 18 months instead of 12. Allergic to oak debris? Cedar is your friend.
Color-enhanced (Palo Duro Red, Saddle Brown, Black Anvil)
Recycled hardwood treated with iron-oxide pigment. The color is locked in — it won't bleed onto your driveway or sidewalks in a downpour, and it holds tone for a full North Texas season. Black for modern hardscapes and light stone, red for traditional Texas-yard contrast against limestone and crepe myrtles, brown when you want a uniform "I just installed this" look. Color-enhanced fades faster than natural mulch in direct sun — count on a partial top-dress next year to keep it sharp.
Playground Mulch (ASTM F1292 certified)
Engineered wood fiber tested for fall attenuation. If you have a swing set or a play structure and you're building a fall zone, code in most municipalities requires either ASTM-certified mulch or rubber. Lay 9-12 inches deep in the fall zone (yes, that much — it compresses). One pallet of an 8x12 swing set fall zone is about 4 yards.
How much do I need?
| Bed size | Coverage at 3" depth |
|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | 1 cu yd |
| 200 sq ft | 2 cu yd |
| 500 sq ft | 5 cu yd |
| 1,000 sq ft | 10 cu yd |
A pickup-truck bed holds about 2 cubic yards level-loaded — heaping, maybe 3 if it's an F-150 with a long bed. Anything more than that, let us deliver it. Our smallest delivery is more cost-effective than three round trips.
Use the mulch-bed calculator below — enter the square footage and depth, and we'll round to whole yards and offer fabric + edging to finish the job.
Contractor notes
Bulk yards delivered tandem-load (16 yd³) or single-axle (10 yd³). Standing PO numbers accepted at the scale. Color-enhanced mulches are loaded out of separate piles so you don't get pigment cross-contamination on a Saturday rush. Pre-order playground mulch by Wednesday for weekend installs — we don't carry it in a large standing pile.
