Nature Trail – Proper Mulching

Q: I’m planning a 1000 foot long nature trail for my Eagle Scout project. You say on your website I need twenty cubic feet of mulch for every ten feet of a six foot wide trail. How deep will that amount of mulch cover?

A: Your math teacher would be distraught to know you couldn’t figure this out! In simple terms, two cubic feet of chips will cover the trail four inches deep and six feet wide for one linear foot. Actually, I think I erred on the excessive side when I wrote my comments several years ago. I now think you could get by with one cubic foot of chips per foot of trail, which would make a layer two inches thick. An arborist’s chip truck usually holds about 10 cubic yards. I’ll let you do the math on how many truckloads you’ll need.

  • Advertisement